Christmas shopping with the sliding US dollar
This Christmas will really test a person's ability to stretch a dollar, especially a U.S. dollar, since we've been watching it shrink for quite awhile now.
It certainly isn't necessary for big-mouth m...
read more
The corn is as high as an elephant's eye
Oscar Hammerstein II probably didn't realize when he wrote the lyrics for Broadway hit Oklahoma! that "The corn is as high as an elephant's eye," were prophetic words. Corn, at $4.21 a bushel (as of...
read more
Mexico City visit: your money's no good
Ever walked into a room crammed full of strangers? Take it from me, it's quite wonderful when the strangers that the room is crammed full of are Mexicans. It's even better when the room is in Mexico.
...
read more
What's today's rate? Mexico's floating peso
I wrote this in early 1995, when the peso was on a slide. For many, especially the Mexican people, the "devaluation" was no laughing matter.
"It's 5.0 at the Caseta de Cambio (money changer) in Cinco ...
read more
No tengo cambio: Paying with coins in Mexico
This clown is plying his trade in the Oaxaca Zócalo.
He probably needs change. Photography by Diana Ricci
There is a deep, dark, secret hole where all the change goes, and nobody k...
read more
Mexico: a window on technology and the poor
Over the Columbus Day weekend, I was in Mexico City, attending and speaking at a conference marking the founding of the Mexican chapter of the Internet Society.
That was a potentially historic event i...
read more