Description: This book addresses two questions that are crucial to understanding Mexico's current economic and political challenges. Why did the opening up of the economy to foreign trade and investment not result in sustained economic growth? Why has electoral democracy not produced rule of law? The answer to those questions lies in the ways in which Mexico's long history with authoritarian government shaped its judicial, taxation, and property rights institutions. These institutions, the authors argue, cannot be reformed with the stroke of a pen. Moreover, they represent powerful constraints on the ability of the Mexican government to fund welfare-enhancing reforms, on the ability of firms and households to write contracts, and on the ability of citizens to enforce their basic rights.
Brief description: Stephen Haber is Peter and Helen Bing Senior Fellow of the Hoover Institution, and A. A. and Jeanne Welch Milligan Professor in the School of Humanities and Sciences at Stanford University. He is also Senior Fellow of the Stanford Center for International Development, Director of Stanford's Program in Social Science History, and a Research Economist of the National Bureau of Economic Research. He is the author of numerous books and articles on Mexican economic history and political economy.
Review Quotes: "Scholars from diverse backgrounds will find Mexico since 1980 useful for its conceptual insights into how authoritarian regimes work; as an accessible account of a major economic, social, and political reform process; and as an outstanding synthesis of a puzzling period of Mexican history."
Hispanic American Historical Review, Graciela Marquez, El Colegio de Mexico