Ortega on Calderón's Economic Policy

Head Chucho and former PRD leader:

Since the beginning of the financial crisis, we have insisted that an alternative is applying a countercyclical strategy based on the expansion of public debt, which would not come only from public debt, but rather excess oil receipts and a progressive fiscal policy. Furthermore, this spending would be used for productive activities, such as the reconstruction of the industrial base, the rescues of the campo, and the construction of social infrastructure.

With the danger that the deepening of the Eurozone financial crisis has a worldwide impact, Mexico needs to be prepared to face this challenge with all of the economic policy instruments at their disposal, avoiding the same route that previously impeded our growth in the midst of an adverse worldwide climate.

Maybe it's because I don't read La Jornada enough, but I don't think this specific criticism is made as often as it should be. (However, you often read unspecific broadsides, such as, Calderón is a neoliberal.) Calderón's anti-crisis plan was relatively weak as planned, and ran out of money in any event. A better one wouldn't have created positive growth in 2009, but it could have done a lot to lessen the pain.