20,000 Colones Bill Good or Bad Idea?

Image via WikipediaIt looks as if the 20,000 colones bill will be coming out shortly. It was scheduled to come out but was sent back for a small error found on the bill. I am no economics major but I two doubts in my mind why this might be a bad idea. Read and let me know what you think?

Yesterday I saw Laura Chinchilla plead to the United Nations for help with the invasion of the drug-trade in Costa Rica. I think everyone can agree there is more drugs and crime than before and nobody wants what is happening to Mexico to happen to Costa Rica. As far as I know Narcos deal mostly in cash and yes they probably deal a lot with dollars but Im sure the Colone makes for an easy transfer at times to not have so many cash dollars floating around. Would now be the time for the release of the larger Colone bill with the arrival of a Narco cash run business knocking at the doors of Costa Rica.

My second thought is I often hear Costa Ricans say that there is cash in the streets but nobody wants to spend. If you put larger bills in peoples wallets it just means they will spend less. A larger bills is like having a savings account in your wallet. It almost hurts to break the bill and get all the small change. How often to you find yourself saying "I only got a $50 and I dont want to break it".

With this said I really dont know if either of them make sense since my Economics backround is level with my PHD in nuclear physics (neither really exist). If you have thoughts on the release of the new bill I would love to hear?

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The President's Plan

Image via Wikipedia Costa Rica's first woman President, Laura Chinchilla, unveiled her four-year plan. She wants to reduce poverty, increase security for citizens and create economic growth. They all sound like admirable goals, but they hinge on tax reform. Ticos are like everybody else. They do not like to pay taxes, but if you have to, you at least hope you get something for your money. I know some North Americans here who do not mind paying taxes. They are used to it in the US. However, they too hope that they get something in return for their money.

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University March

Image via Wikipedia Once again Costa Rica showed the world it was a democracy. 10,000 students, faculty and administrators from Costa Rica’s public universities marched to president Chinchilla’s house. They set up a stage with loudspeakers and gave the Costa Rican president an earful. They want more funding for the universities. More scientific equipment, more field study and more scholarships.

Chinchilla had in mind an increase of around 5% for university budgets. The marchers were thinking more along the lines of at least 11%. Will they get it? Time will tell. But it is nice to see people so concerned about higher education. I might add, that as usual Costa Rica did all this peacefully.

The New Ambassador

Image via Wikipedia Who knows the name of the Costa Rican ambassador to the USA?

She is Muni Figueres, daughter of former Costa Rican President José “don Pepe” Figueres and his first wife. She will serve as Costa Rica's ambassador to the United States, after being nominated by her government on this past Tuesday morning.

Muni Figueres was born in Costa Rica but was also a U.S. citizen because of her mother's nationality. In order to accept the ambassador’s post in Washington, D.C., she was forced to relinquish her U.S. citizenship. She admits that it was not easy to do.

Costa Rica President Laura Chinchilla said she sees Figueres' former U.S. citizenship as an advantage to Costa Rica because she will have “fluid access” in Washington.

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The Costa Rican Astronaut

Image via Wikipedia Did you know that Costa Rica had an astronaut? His name is Franklin Chang, and he is a real hero here. Chang has made seven voyages into outer space. Not only has this inspired a nation, but it has made this agricultural economy of Costa Rica, where only 6 to 7% of the university students study science, start thinking more about science.

Chang is the astronaut and co-director of Ad Astra Rocket Lab. He has plans to use plasma-fueled rockets to rid space of obsolete satellites. Currently there is no way to retrieve satellites once they cease to function. Chang was not expecting Ticos to invest a lot of money in his project, but he has been overwhelmed by their support of this project. One man makes a difference.

Ticos Don't Want a Gold Mine !

Image via Wikipedia Up by the Nicaraguan border in Costa Rica, a Canadian company works the Crucitas gold mine. The problem is that 80% of the Costa Rican people are against the gold mine. Why? It is an open mining project, and it is wreaking havoc on the environment, and don’t forget this is a very ecologically conscious country. They are proud of their natural beauty. The gold mine is destroying trees, scattering wildlife and making a general mess. The previous president Oscar Arias permitted the mining. Now people want the sitting president, Laura Chinchilla, to stop it.

Opponents of the gold mine are pushing the president to close the mine. Protesters walked from San Jose, the capitol, to the gold mine by the Nicaraguan border. In good conditions this is a five hour drive. To walk it is quite a feat. In mid-July the group handed Chinchilla a written request to close the mine. Chinchilla said in a press conference that she would “analyze” the decree. It was later decided to leave the future of the mine in the hands of the Judicial branch of government. They will decide on the legality of the decree issued by former president Arias, permitting the mine.

This shows three things about Costa Rica. One, they are really serious about the environment. Two, this is a true democracy, where people can disagree, protest and demand. Three, Costa Rica is truly a land of peace. Everything is done without fighting, mayhem and most of the time without raised voices.

Is Costa Rica a developed or developing Country?

Here is some information taken from the TicoTimes (I left the link at the bottom if you would like to read their full article) in what was an excellent article written answering many questions that people often have about Costa Rica. As a tour company we know that if a client needs to visit a brand new mall with all the top end stores of the world we can take them there. We also know that if a client wants to visit some of the most rural communities hours away from all the ameneties of the world we can also take them there. This brings up the question to many of wanting to know about this country that has been known for its solid middle class as being a country that is Developed? or still in the process of Developing?

Just to give you an idea 20% of the country makes $120 or less a month. If you decided to visit one of the fancy malls in the San Jose on a daily basis and pay the $2 toll to get there and the $2 for parking then in one month you would spend $120's. In the article of the TicoTimes they talk about the different organizations that label countries as developing and developed. On a worldwide scale Costa Rica is ranked as the upper middle section of all countries and the upper section being the developed countries. There are around 30 developed countries on the planet and Costa Rica is ranked around 54th 1 spot behind Mexico along with other countries of Brazil, Panama, and South Africa. In all of Latin America they say Chile is the most developed country.

Costa Rica is considered to be moving forward at a fast pace up the scale. Two strong points given to Costa Rica is how educated the people are here and the healthcare that is provided allowing life expectancy to be high at 77.

The new elected President Laura Chinchilla brought up that her goal was to make Costa Rica a developed country and if she can do it in four years I dont know but atleast it looks that the country is already on its way. To see the full article on the TicoTimes you can visit http://www.ticotimes.net/business.htm.