I was in Mexico City last weekend. It's amazing: 22 million people, fabulous Spanish colonial architecture, edgy street culture, enormous wealth, stunning poverty, world-class museums, fabulous food, traffic jams that take second place to none in the world. It's impossible to compress it into any statement, much less a short one.
So what do the Mexicans talk about, especially to an American? Drugs and corruption. The recent murder of the Police Chief of Mexico City by drug traffickers, and the series of “small wars” thoughout the country between narco-gangs/militias and the rest of society. And while very few Mexicans I spoke with blame the US for what many see as Mexico's problems, no one can ignore that the drugs move in one direction: north, to the markets, to the US. Face it: we, The People, import drugs, and so export some of the social mayhem that comes with the drug trade.
So this thought has been much on my mind lately: Demand matters. Let me say that again, since I'm worried you didn't get it the first time: Demand matters! What you buy or decline to buy matters. The economic world, the social world, the political world and all other worlds are to a large extent a product of what people spend money on, and want to spend money on. In a free democracy such as the US, this is all the more true: consumer dollars ARE votes.
So let's connect some dots:
- High fuel prices » choices about where to live, how to live, what to drive, that are certain to drive up demand for hydrocarbons;
- Narcotics-based corruption and unstable governments in Mexico, Central and South America » US demand for recreational drugs.
- Burgeoning international trade in fake and illegal goods, both luxury/fashion items, as well as pharmaceuticals, medical goods, car parts, media of all sorts, etc » global demand for these goods, led by consumer demand in the US.
The common thread is that demand matters; someone, often a poor someone in a poor country, will work to meet that demand, as surely as water will run downhill. I'm a believer in free choices and free trade. But it goes with that territory that I want to think that if consumers have reliable information, they will tend to make better choices, at least for themselves if not for society at large. And that is why I am optimistic that ecommerce can be a very effective force for a more transparent economy, where consumers can make their choices with better knowledge about both the good and the seller, if only (a) that information is available and (b) consumers are aware enough to use it. I would like to think that part of what we do at buySAFE furthers progress towards that goal, and that all systems that make online information more reliable and transparent will empower consumers to make smarter choices.
Pardon the sermon, but I fear that some of you may have missed a graduation speech this spring, and this should fill your quota!
Today's blog was contributed by Travis Brown, our VP, Communications and International. One of Travis’s particular interests is the dynamics of markets for fake and counterfeit goods, and ways to leverage consumer choice to combat this huge and growing problem.
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