ABSTRACT
Zedillo’s New Economic Plan, introduced in March 1995, called for a 35 percent increase in gasoline prices and a 20 percent increase in electricity rates and propane gas. The plan limited wage increases, which had scarcely risen during the past decade despite inflation in all sectors, particularly energy, which is produced domestically. A 15 percent sales tax passed in the Mexican Congress raised protests among consumers of all classes. This spelled the end for industry, according to the editorial opinion of El Financiero International (March 15, 1995:21). The prediction proved true in the short run, with many bankruptcies recorded for national small industries, but transnational firms promoted by NAFTA picked up some of the slack in intervening years.
