ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book provides a historical sketch of the U.S. and Mexican economies, and addresses social inequalities present in each country. It explains Mexico's substandard economic activity by applying the foundational factors approach primarily to Mexico and, for purposes of comparison, secondarily to the United States. The foundational factors are as follows: the natural environment, natural resources, population dynamics, relations with other countries, and the structure of production and governance. One of the major similarities between Mexico and the United States is that the organization and functioning of economic and governmental institutions in both societies are rooted in the same economic system-that is, capitalism. Economists and other social scientists have as a rule rejected psychological and cultural interpretations of development and underdevelopment because of the liberties that culturalists have taken in making broad generalizations based on far-fetched hypotheses.
