Customer Reviews

On The Rim Of Mexico: Encounters Of The Rich And Poor

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Ramon E. Ruiz dispells many of the myhs about life on the Mexican-U.S. border. The chapters are devoted to contrasting the life that exist on the each side of the border. Each chapter is well written and his use of economic analysis is used cleverly to set up countless examples about the cultures that exist along the border. Ruiz writes an essential analysis in the study of Mexican-United States relations. A must read.

Mr. Ruiz has obviously spent a great deal of time and effort in researching this book. His in-depth yet easy to read analysis is very impressive. However, his inability to be objective is very disappointing. It seems that the author had a very biased opinion when starting this book. There are many problems in the border region and Mr. Ruiz does an excellent job of identifying and explaining these problems and challenges. On the other hand, this writer never tells us much about the other side of the story. For example, he mentions that Tijuana has a large middle class, yet only wants to focus on and analyze the negatives of the "maquila" industry. It seems that his interviews with Mexicans are only used to prove his point. Contrary points of view are not fully examined or are simply discounted. There are many other examples of this "telling half the story" throughout the book. I think it might do Mr. Ruiz some good to study the economic theory of comparative advantage. Mr. Ruiz is an excellent writer; I hope his next project will not be as lopsided.