Another Recession

If the US falls into another recession (as Obama was warning not so long ago), Rogelio Ramírez de la O says the effects could be devastating for Mexico:

Now, it's only partly true that the crisis of 2009 initiated abroad. Mexico already had it's own crisis, expect the government and the business class had learned to live with it, thanks to high oil income and financial stability. The crisis consisted of the economy not growing by more than 2.5 percent a year and this obligated half a million people to emigrate each year.

An intensification of the American recession now with global financial consequences would expose the government and therefore Mexico to much greater risks, with much more negative effects than those experience thus far. Its problem has been that it was incorrect in its diagnosis and from the beginning lacked a genuine project for managing the country.

I like Ramírez de la O's columns a great deal, but unfortunately they frequently stop at mere criticism and fail to present alternatives.