Economic Prospects and Policies in Mexico

This essay sets out to examine Mexico’s possibilities in the world economy in general and in the North American area in particular, and to consider the choice of policies that may be applied to exploit its possibilities to best advantage. As an introduction to the discussion, Section I will review the policies applied in Mexico during the 1973–83 decade of external shocks. In turn, Section II will examine the extent to which Mexico has exploited its comparative advantage in trade in manufactured goods. Finally, Section III will focus on policies that may permit Mexico to cope with its debt problem and to ensure rapid and sustained economic growth in the future.