Development and Growth in the Mexican Economy: A Historical Perspective

This book is the first comprehensive and systematic English-language treatment of Mexico's economic history to appear in nearly forty years. Drawing on several years of in-depth research, Juan Carlos Moreno-Brid and Jaime Ros, two of the foremost experts on the Mexican economy, examine Mexico's current development policies and problems from a historical perspective. They review long-term trends in the Mexican economy and analyze past episodes of radical shifts in development strategy and in the role of markets and the state. This book provides an overview of Mexico's economic development since Independence that compares the successive periods of stagnation and growth that alternately have characterized Mexico's economic history. It gives special attention to developments since 1940, and it presents a re-evaluation of Mexico's development policies during the State-led industrialization period from 1940 to 1982 as well as during the more recent market reform process. This reevaluation is critical of the dominant trend in economic literature and is revisionist in arguing that, in particular, the market reforms undertaken by successive Mexican governments since 1983 have not addressed the fundamental obstacles to economic growth. Development and Growth in the Mexican Economy also details the country's pioneering role in launching NAFTA, its membership in the OECD, and its radical macroeconomic reforms. Carefully argued and meticulously researched, the book presents a wide-ranging, authoritative study that not only pinpoints problems, but also suggests solutions for removing obstacles to economic stability and pointing the Mexican economy toward the road to recovery.

Customer Reviews:

Tough read

By Richard J. Salvucci "RJS" - October 21, 2010

This was surely a difficult book to write, and I would not hesitate to recommend it to someone who was equally literate in Mexican history and macroeconomics. But it's going to be a tough slog for anyone else. The authors are working with data whose reliability is often questionable, and sometimes obviously misleading. There's also a persistently defensive tone to the account, particularly in dealing with the run-up to the crisis of the 1980s. If Luis Echeverria cannot usefully be described as populist, it is hard to know what else one might call him. If Lopez Portillo cannot be described as utterly irresponsible, then it is hard to know who would be. While there's no doubt that changes international environment made what Mexico had undertaken far more difficult in the 1970s and 1980s, it's also pretty clear that an attempt to address the distributive problems of the postrevolutionary era by doing little more than getting foreign banks to fund consumption subsidies was the easy way... read more

Development and Growth in the Mexican Economy: A Historical Perspective

By Pablo Ruiz Napoles - August 12, 2009

There are quite a few books on the economic history of Mexico dealing with development and growth, written by mexicans, this one is written by two first level economists and highly graded scholars, it is simply the best one. It is clear, informative, easy to understand and yet profound and analytical.

Excellent History

By Mary King "economist" - June 23, 2011

This is an excellent economic history of Mexico, which along the way demonstrates the ongoing relevance and potential for import substitution growth strategies.