"El Chapo" Joins Bill Gates

Joaquin Guzmán Loera (“El Chapo”), the narcotics dealer, joined the list of the richest men in the world, while businessman Carlos Slim lost nearly half his fortune, according to Forbes magazine. Two ways of doing business – one that collapses and one that excels. Curiously, governments say to work for the opposite outcome. Is it impossible to reverse the trend or is something wrong with the strategy?

And what is the strategy? The U.S. government recommended, first, in dealing with Colombia, and then with Mexico: fight the sale, which is to say, jail the drugs dealers and keep them from consumers. But that strategy has a key flaw. It can work only in theory, because there is nowhere in the world it could be proved. When political institutions make relevant decisions, court systems execute those decisions, and financial systems prevent profits from getting out of control, they function perfectly.

Neither the United States nor Colombia have been able to prevent corruption and money laundering, much less consumption, because the number of people involved in trafficking is huge – half a million people in this country, according to U.S. and national estimates – and rising every day. People who penetrate government structures vary their transit plans and do whatever it takes to sell and consume drugs.

We say that it is impossible to curb migration from poor countries to developed ones, even though they put up walls, because there is demand for that labor. Why do we change the criteria in the case of drugs?

The global financial crisis hurt Carlos Slim, but left untouched the business of El Chapo Guzmán. We have to send some leaders to repeat Introduction to Economics so they understand that unless you get rid of your customers, El Chapo will oust Bill Gates.