ABSTRACT

This chapter explores the underlying tenets of the economic programs adopted during the 1982-1989 period in Mexico and aims to evaluate the several stabilization programs in terms of their impact on the country’s longrange capacity to resolve the fundamental structural imbalances that are the root causes of the present crisis. The seeds of Mexico’s continuing economic crisis were sown in the early postwar period when Mexico embarked on a long-term development strategy to industrialize its predominantly agricultural economy. The unequal impact of the effects of stabilization policy on the nation’s welfare and the distribution of the fruits of production can be measured with several indirect indicators. The stabilization programs of the 1980s have accelerated the Mexican process of internationalization. A new orientation toward a viable economic development strategy must be based on mobilizing the country’s own resources and its labor force.