Saturday, February 02, 2008

paper chase


Juan Calypso of Viva Veracruz is in the middle of a series on obtaining an FM3 visa in Mexico. I have found the series (and the associated comments) fascinating. For me, the tourist visa (FMT), with its now-enforced 180-day per year limitation, will not give the flexibility of scouting out Mexico after I retire. I may rely on an FMT for my initial foray, but I will need the 5-year FM3 once I get settled in -- somewhere.

The discussion on
Viva Veracruz will help me decide whether to get my FM3 in Portland, or wait until I can get it in Mexico. Right now, I am leaning in favor of getting it here in Oregon before I head down. Part of that decision is based on the bureaucracy that Juan and other commenters have faced in Mexico. Clerks at tables seem to be an ever-present symbol of official life.

My mind started wandering back to my days in Greece in the mid-70s. Everything I needed to do required a piece of paper and a stamp -- both of which were available only after surviving long lines and baffling instructions. After giving it some thought, I am convinced that we may have heard the answers to these questions in our economics and sociology classes in college.

The economics piece is very intuitive. Where labor and commodities are priced low in relationship to the time restriction on producing a product, there will be no need for efficiency. Government offices throughout the world are a perfect example of this. Government services usually bear no relationship to any market pricing mechanism. As a result, demand for the services can be static or dynamic, but neither supply nor demand will have any effect on the service because its provision is dictated by a hierarchical system. That system can either be driven by an administrator or by legislative dictate, but the person receiving the service will never be in a position to determine the service's cost or quality. Just try to negotiate a Medicare-dictated medical cost with your doctor.

The same dynamic can be seen in the private sector when availability of labor exceeds the time necessary to complete a job. I was watching some new homes being built in Salem a month ago. The first thing I noticed was the new equipment and how few members are now part of a building team. In Mexico, of course, the building teams are larger and there is little, if any, mechanized equipment. The return on capital is so low that the capitalization would be a bad investment.

The sociology piece cannot be ignored, either. Anglo-Saxon societies revere the autonomy and liberty of the individual. Mediterranean societies revere the community over the individual. A perfect example is how I have seen American and Mexican business people begin meetings. Americans expect to get right to the point. Mexicans (and my Greek friends, for that matter) start with social context -- your health, the state of your family.

The Mediterranean approach has a far more human touch to it, but it will never form an efficient business model. In that system, the customer is always subordinate to the good of society. In the FM3 stories, the good of society is represented by the clerk at her table with her pile of papers and her pencil doing her best to stave off the chaos of unregulated society.

2 comments:

Islagringo said...

I would seriously recommend that you get your FM3 there. Don't forget that you have to "register" it when you enter the country. That is the date that it becomes effective. And it is only good for one year. You have to renew it every year.

Steve Cotton said...

Wayne -- Thanks for the reminders. Both points are good to remember: FM3s come with their own restrictions.

Your comment got me to thinking. I should post a blog now and then summarizing my move time table (retirement date; first, second, and third area to rent; home purchase date). It might prove interesting.