ABSTRACT
On the Mexican side, local investors feel the whole financial system is insecure and have been investing heavily in the United States. The influx of so-called portfolio investments of overseas speculators does not create jobs for the 65 percent of the Mexican labor force that is underemployed or unemployed. Clearly, the Mexican government's early payment of its external debt obligation has not created a secure and favorable climate for Mexican savers. Mexican minimum wage levels are among the lowest in the semi-industrialized world and have suffered severe deterioration as the Mexican government seeks to attract more foreign investment on the basis of cheap labor. As malnutrition stalks the land, the Mexican agricultural economy shows all the signs of deformed growth characteristic of the free market. The National Action Party (PAN) has demonstrated strong electoral support in the northern industrial zones, in the agroindustrial central-western region, and in the State of Mexico, including the capital.
