Category Archives: in english

in english

British transport infrastructure

Is worse than in some "third world" countries I know.  I was there the fatidic day of the opening of Heathrow's Terminal 5, but fortunately in another section of the airport so wasn't affected.

Paddington
Paddington

However, my Heathrow Express train from Paddington was delayed for almost an hour, as the thing just decided to stop dead in the beginning of the journey (but outside the station).  Since I've already experienced  quite a few problems in the tube during previous trips, I really wonder when (if ever) they will get their act together.  I'm just amazed by the rivers of money flushed down the toilet because of downtime…

in english

Immigrant taxi driver

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For the first time in 7 years altogether I've lived in Finland I took a ride with a taxi driver of a foreign background.  Born in Turkey and around my age, he has been here for more than twice as long as me, so pretty much half of his life.  The funny thing of course is that we were discussing in Finnish abou this experiences here and he told me something very revealing:

Almost every time he picks up a white, blond, blue-eyed customer, they speak to him in English and are surprised when he answers in Finnish (which he finds rather ridiculous as he's a Finnish taxi driver).  Furthermore, he mentioned a couple of "adventures" with skinheads in Tikkurila during his youth that fortunately came to nothing.  The most interesting of his experiences for me was when we discussed about our Finnish friends. He said once, after going out for drinks, one of them said: "Hey, we're not that different after all".  Notice that this was his friend, so I wonder what does the average Pekka Virtanen in the street think when he sees somebody like him or like me…

We had a very good discussion during the whole trip and I really enjoyed hearing his take on certain things I've also experienced.  Wish him the best of luck.

in english

Recommended Book: The Flight of the Creative Class

I've followed Richard Florida's theories for a few years.  Building upon The Rise of the Creative Class, where he introduced us to his model whereupon a certain group of people whose job relies not only on the consumption of knowledge, but also on the creation of it, and how the world economy is changing, he introduces this book where he expands on the concept and what does it mean for individuals and countries.

The edition I bought starts with his essay The World is Spiky where he critiques The World is Flat, saying that it only looks flat from one peak to the next, but there's plenty of places that haven't yet gotten connected.

Furthermore, the whole idea of the book is simply that the people constituting this creative class are highly mobile and will settle wherever they see fit, therefore having a huge influence in the prosperity of the places they choose.  According to his analysis, this choice is guided by 3 factors: Talent, Tolerance & Technology, and he goes on identifying places in the United States and abroad that are doing all they can to attract and retain their "brains".

Whereas his results for North America seem well founded, he tends to get in a flimsier position when identifying creative class hubs outside of that zone.  He, for example, lumps Helsinki-Tampere-Oulu as an area (which is rather like talking about Brussels, Barcelona and London being in the same neighbourhood). 

There are, however, certain things that leaders in Finland should take to heart, as he mentions explicitly in page 173: "Not all cities are able to compete effectively for global talent.  There are a signficant number… indicating that they are either attracting a very narrow band of immigrants or not attracting many immigrants period.  Cities in this group include… the Scandinavian centers of Helsinki and Oslo.  These places are challenged by their lack of appeal to global talent and will need to improve their diversity and tolerance if they wish to compete at the global cutting edge."

In other words: your educational system is excellent, your use of technology second to none, but the lack of diversity puts a hold on the ideas and points of view you can create here, which is a definite minus in these terms.  As I've mentioned before, there's a lot of foreigners here who work as hard as everybody else here, and not feeling welcome will make them leave, taking their skills with them.  Furthermore, as more and more Finns get to know and appreciate that kind of diversity somewhere else, they will also leave.

For Mexico there is also a lot of lessons to be learned from this book, but I have mostly covered them in another post.  Further moderation of Mexican racist attitudes would also be most welcome.

in english

De “robo del siglo” a “robo de película… cómica”

Para terminar en una nota alegre, checa esta historia de El Universal sobre un robo de banco fallido en la Ciudad de México.  Los ladrones, queriendo perforar con martillo y cincel de una casa abandonada a la bóveda del banco, terminaron primero en un salón de fiestas pero no se dieron por vencidos.  En su segundo intento, esta vez desde el establecimiento para párvulos, fueron a dar al baño del banco, activando la alarma.

Estos cuates si no hubieran nacido los habría inventado Walt Disney…

in english

Thoughts on the Mexican golden calf

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Pemex, the Mexican oil monopoly, is on dire straits.  The source of around 30% of the government budget, it has issues with the union, the lack of productivity and of technology for deep sea drilling, where the last known reserves are expected to be.  Reform, however, is not an option since the oil industry in Mexico is intimately tied to arcane notions of nationhood.

For an overview of the situation, Bloomberg and Paco Calderón give the basics.

Of course, that's what happens when you treat an industry like the golden calf.

in english

Does Mexico have the wrong export strategy?

Ever since reading The World is Flat and checking out books on the creative economy, I've been wondering if Mexico is competing in the wrong niche.  Since before the start of NAFTA in the 90's, the country has focused on the maquiladora sector, basically using the wage differential between Mexico and the United States for its gain.

Since 2000, however, we found out that China, even being so far away, has basically strong competitive advantages to beat Mexico at that game, regardless of the location of both countries.  They can produce faster, cheaper and with less of a fuzz.  Mexican industries, however, have specialised in sectors that require just-in-time delivery or very specialised knowledge, leaving them vulnerable to the oscillation of supply and demand in those areas.

The Tec de Monterrey, one of Mexico's leading universities, has been trying to foster the creation of a knowledge economy, but I think that is not the right focus.  A knowledge economy presupposes the dependence on knowledge created elswhere, with the relevant fees for patents and such, whereas we should be focusing on going further than that.  This, however, needs more initiative than we seem to have…

in english

Kudos to the Espoo Police

If you are a regular reader of this blog (or an immigrant yourself), you know immigration procedures are not easy.  Therefore, I would like to give a big thanks to the Espoo Police.

I went to renew my residence permit last week, which is a process that nominally takes three months.  We arrived at their office at 8 a.m., and since all my papers were in order and they had me in the system, they did all the process on the spot and one hour later I left with a new permit for another couple of years.  I found excellent, courteous service and as you can see a very fast turnaround.

It seems the authorities do want my taxes after all ;-).

in english, suomeksi

“Being born in Finland is like winning the lottery”

"On lottovoitto syntyä Suomeen" is a phrase you hear often enough in Finland, referring to their perceived fortune at their high standard of living.  Whereas I agree that it is indeed a nice place, I believe the statement is flawed for the most important thing is not where are you born, but what you do with your life. 

I've seen plenty of people of advantaged backgrounds but self-destructive attitudes.  Yes, a good starting point is nice to have, but shouldn't allow you to get overconfident or, shall I say, cocky.