Slim's Rise

Simon Johnson wonders who will be the Carlos Slims of the present American crisis, those who use the economic turmoil to vault themselves into titans of unprecedented strength. Interesting question, but I don't think Slim is the best example, at least not in regard to the 1994-95 meltdown. That debacle was a banking catastrophe, a realm where Slim's presence is relatively limited. Moreover, the keys to his fortune --Telmex and Telcel-- were secured in 1990, during the infamous privatizations of the Salinas presidency. In the case of the former company, that purchase included a promise to keep competition down for years to come, so his obscene wealth was assured regardless of the crisis.