Here’s What Should Worry Mexico More Than NAFTA
It’s fair that Mexican officials would fret over U.S. President Donald Trump’s threats to walk away from the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) – 80 percent of Mexican goods are currently exported to the U.S., and any change to the 23-year-old deal will surely be economically and politically disruptive. But other potential changes in … Read more
Riding Mexico’s Empty Tourism Train
Book a low-season ticket for El Chepe, the passenger train that cuts through the valleys and mountains of Chihuahua, Mexico’s largest state, and it’s likely you’ll have your pick of seats. Despite taking passengers to or through some of Mexico’s most fascinating towns and natural attractions, El Chepe is nearly empty most of the year, … Read more
Five Ways Venezuelan Businesses Are Coping with Crisis
Businesses and entrepreneurs in Venezuela are responding to the country’s crippling economic crisis in all sorts of ways. Many are simply closing their doors – not surprising in a country whose GDP shrank by at least 10 percent last year. But others have reinvented themselves to survive in the country’s off-kilter economy, as new … Read more
China Wins if NAFTA Dies
Much is made of the perils of ending NAFTA for Mexico, and rightly so. The 23-year-old agreement has helped the nation not only boost trade but also transform its economy, moving from a commodity to an advanced manufacturing exporter. With 80 percent of its exports headed north, even the threat of change has hurt Mexico’s … Read more
Revisiting Brazil’s 2013 Protests: What Did They Really Mean?
Brazil’s current political instability began four years ago, with a wave of street demonstrations that virtually no one predicted – and eventually drew more than 1 million people into the streets. In this special report, AQ’s editor-in-chief looks back at what really caused the protests – and whether today’s politicians have fully learned their lessons. … Read more
What the U.S. Congress Owes Puerto Rico
The inaugural meeting of Puerto Rico’s fiscal control board lasted just 26 minutes. The seven unelected technocrats deputized in September with overseeing nearly every facet of the island’s economy met in a boardroom a few blocks from Wall Street to select a chairman and decide which of Puerto Rico’s institutions would come under their watch. Their … Read more
Argentina’s Return to Honest Accounting Is More Than Just Numbers
Nearly four years after Argentina became the first country to be censured by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for providing inaccurate data on inflation and economic growth, the international body on Nov. 9 restored the country to good standing. The move provided a win for the government’s reform agenda and offered a positive sign for hesitant … Read more
Why Caribbean Banks Are Bracing for Problems
(This article has been updated) In countries like Haiti, remittances matter. Many Haitians rely on money sent from family abroad to meet daily needs, especially in the wake of natural disasters such as Hurricane Matthew, which tore through the country in October. But in Haiti and throughout the Caribbean, sending and receiving remittances is getting … Read more
What Mexico Can Learn from Haiti’s Development Plans
The idea sounds simple: Special Economic Zones (SEZs) offer tax exemptions and cheap labor as hooks to attract investment from foreign companies. Money trickles in, local suppliers get a foothold and the middle class begins to grow. At least, in theory. Mexico is betting big on SEZs, with a new federal law that will create four of … Read more
Foi tudo culpa dela?
Read in English Era 12 de outubro de 2010, e o ministro da Fazenda do Brasil estava fazendo uma apresentação para a comunidade financeira de Nova York sob os lustres de cristal da sede da Americas Society/Council of the Americas. Duas semanas antes, Guido Mantega havia causado sensação ao denunciar uma “guerra cambial” global que … Read more
Was It ALL Her Fault? An Economist Re-examines Brazil’s Crisis
This article is adapted from AQ’s most recent issue, “Fixing Brazil.” To receive the print edition at home, subscribe here. Leia em português The date was October 12, 2010, and Brazil’s finance minister was addressing New York’s financial community under crystal chandeliers at the Americas Society/Council of the Americas. Two weeks earlier, Guido Mantega had caused a sensation by denouncing … Read more
Why Brazil’s Olympic Gold Could Boost Its New President
The year was 1994, and a depressed Brazil was desperately in need of a lift. Recent years had seen a president impeached for corruption, inflation in excess of 2,500 percent, horrendous massacres of innocents inside a prison and outside a church, and a general feeling the country couldn’t do anything right. As June approached, so … Read more
BNDES Helped Save the Olympics. But Is it Hurting Brazil?
Corrections appended below Updated 8/17/2016 New leadership atop Brazil’s massive national development bank is unwinding a decade of rampant lending that fed large conglomerates and strained the country’s finances. Over the past half-century, Brazil’s Banco Nacional de Desenvolvimento Economico e Social (BNDES) built huge power plants and highways through the industrial southeast, aided social programs in the … Read more
This Man Is Brilliant. So Why Doesn’t Mexico’s Economy Grow Faster?
A great way to understand Agustín Carstens is to hear how he defines himself and his peers —“The Generation of 12.50.” That may sound obscure to outsiders, but anyone who grew up in Mexico during the 1950s, ’60s or ’70s instantly understands. For 22 consecutive years, the peso was fixed at exactly 12.50 per dollar … Read more
AQ Top 5 Latin American Academics: Ricardo Hausmann
Venezuela’s “know-how” economist has helped countries like Colombia, Mexico and Peru shield themselves from boom and bust cycles.
