Plenty of parallels and ironies in this story on Mexico's economy

[kostya]

Have at it!

http://www.businessweek.com/bwdaily/dnflash/dec2004/nf20041217_7101_db046.htm


"No pasa nada." "Nothing's happening." That laconic statement by President Vicente Fox, repeated a half-dozen times in a meeting with foreign journalists on Dec. 7, is one of the clearest signs that Mexico is not the country it was 10 years ago. Fox, who recently marked his fourth year in power, was boasting that Mexico is enjoying unprecedented economic stability in spite of increasing political noise as the country gears up for the next presidential elections in 2006.

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During the decade, Mexico's economy doubled in size, from $310 billion to $625 billion, and so did per capita income, from $3,100 to $6,300 -- the highest in Latin America. Exports are growing at a 15% annual clip, thanks in large part to the North American Free Trade Agreement. The country has $61 billion in foreign reserves, and the stock market is up 38% in dollar terms this year. "Things go well when public finances are disciplined...when public policy remains constant for long periods of time, as it has these past 10 years," Fox said on Dec. 7.

<snip>
He might have added that multiparty democracy, a very recent phenomenon in Mexico, also offers checks and balances to avoid the fiscal irresponsibility the country suffered in the past. For more than a quarter-century, Mexico suffered financial meltdowns every six years -- each time a President left office -- in large part because these chief execs wielded quasi-imperial power with the help of a rubber-stamp Congress.

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- K

[Jack_DeLeon]

1. The United States = The New Mexico...

The top 20% will get richer, and the other 80% can imigrate to Mexico where they can lead a better life.