Friday, March 27, 2009

Predictable

Calderón several months ago announced the construction of a refinery with two ends in mind: a step toward a more modern energy industry, and a sizeable public works project to provide jobs. He neglected to decree the location of the project, which of course will be a boon to whatever state hosts it, instead opening the topic up for debate among the ten possible states' governors. (This decision was the subject of criticism here.) The idea was to increase the transparency in the process, but it seems like it would have been a lot simpler and less prone to horse-trading had Calderón's team just announced a location, and then a detailed explanation for why it went to, for example, Campeche instead of Michoacán. Anyway, the end result of the governors' debate was classic: now they want two refineries.

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