Reaction

In his address explaining his new stimulus, Felipe Calderón focused primarily on jobs: the creation of 250,000 jobs through public works, making cash available to businesses so that they don't have to fire employees (which will supposedly protect 500,000 jobs in vulnerable industries), and the extension of unemployment benefits from two to six months.

Carlos Slim praised the plan. So did the soft drink heavyweight Femsa.

El Universal's editorial was more reserved:

While the Mexican political class applauded the package of actions from President Felipe Calderón to counteract the international economic crisis, the markets simply downplayed the measures. The Mexican stock exchange fell because investors paid more attention to New York than the National Palace. The reason, according to them, is that the Program of Economic Policies to Support Growth and Jobs is minimal in relation to the size of the crisis.

The program's horrible name couldn't have helped inspire confidence. Analyst Jorge Chávez was laudatory, saying, "It's been a long time since we've seen such an expansive fiscal policy." More generally, Chávez was critical of Congress's lack of initiative in facing the crisis, compared to the executive's "commendable efforts."

Let's keep in mind that these measures are only to mitigate the crisis. The task of increasing the potential growth of the economy remains pending, and any initiative that Congress takes to achieve this would be very welcome.

Chávez has a chat on El Universal later today with Rogelio Ramírez de la O, who recently labeled Calderón's economic posture "pathetic." I look forward to seeing the contrast views.