Economic Policy Reform in Mexico

Preface

Chapter


1 Stabilizing Development; A sketch of the 1960s

∙ Economic Growth and Price Stability

∙ Import Substitution and the Growth of Manufacturing

∙ Agriculture: The "Green Revolution" Comes to a Standstill

Public Investment in Agriculture

Sources of Agricultural Growth

The effects of Agricultural Stagnation in the Labor Market

∙ The Boom of Financial Intermediation

∙ Taxing or Borrowing?

∙ Employment, Growth, and Income Distribution

Domestic and Foreign Equilibrium


2 Echeverria's Campaign and First Year of Administration

∙ The Setting

The Campaign

Reform and "Keep Talking"

Economic Objectives

The Cabinet

∙ Developments before early 1972

The Attempt to Restore Price and Balance-of-Payments Stability

The First Recession

∙ Measures Necessary for the Realization of the President's Program

The Dollar Starts Floating: A Lost Opportunity for Economic Reform

Alternatives of Economic Policy

The Economic Situation in Early 1972


3 The Attempt at Tax Reform of 1972

∙ The Economic and Political Climate in 1972

The Spending Spree of 1972

Political Babble and Entrepreneurial Attitudes

The Tax Reform Proposal and Its Rejection


4 1973 and Onwards

∙ Stagflation

Inflation Becomes Unmanageable

Stop-Go Policies and the Burden of Deficit Spending

Forcing the Hand of the Private Sector

Reform on the Spending Side

∙ Foreign Indebtedness and Financial Intermediation

Foreign Indebtedness Soars

Changes in the Structure of Financial Intermediation

∙ Assessments

Has the Capacity for Growth Been Impaired?

Orthodox Economic Policies and a Reformminded Government

Political Timing vs· Economic Timing. Are Politicians Short-Run Maximizers?


5 Policy Reform in a Developing, Mixed-Economy System

National Entrepreneurs' organizations

Labor Unions

Political and Bureaucratic Elites

The Middle Class

Foreign Investors

∙ Alternatives

∙ Redistributive Mechanisms

Epilogue

Statistical Appendix

Index

About the Author