written by
Mike Todaro

Mexico Is Solidly Middle Class

Editorial 1 min read

I am sharing this article on Mexico to begin educating us on Mexico, in anticipation of our 2019 MEXICO FORUM, set for December 4, 2019 in Mexico City.

I went to college for three months in Mexico City. It was, effectively, the first time I had been outside of Ohio. It changed my life, opening my eyes to the world. Last month, we spent a week in Mexico City touring locations for our Forum. I can tell you first hand the city is vibrant, moving, professional and alive.

Mexicans could care less about any other nations view of them. They're Mexico and they're proud. I was fortunate to find this article on Mexico. As usual, I do not agree with or endorse any political claims but overall it is a positive article. 

Mexico Is Solidly Middle Class 
The president’s dark rhetoric paints an inaccurate portrait of the country’s economy.
Bloomberg: Noah Smith, August 26, 2019

When Americans think of Mexico, many may envision an impoverished country with millions of people desperate to flee to the north. But this picture is out of date. Steadily and quietly, Mexico has grown into a moderately prosperous nation.

Economists usually model economic growth as a rising curve. Mexico’s growth looks more like a straight line. Growth in recent years has been slower than in the 1960s and '70s, but Mexico keeps chugging along.

For a poor country, this would be disappointing progress. But while plenty of poverty remains in Mexico, the country as a whole is now firmly within the echelons of what the World Bank calls upper-middle-income countries. After adjusting for purchasing power parity, according to the International Monetary Fund, Mexico’s per capita income in 2018 was about $20,600 -- just ahead of Argentina. And inequality, though still high, is declining.

Mexico’s performance becomes even more impressive once the country’s structural shifts are taken into account. In 2006, Mexico was the world’s sixth-largest oil producer. But its biggest petroleum deposit, the massive Cantarell field under the Gulf of Mexico, went into a steep decline around the middle of last decade. By 2018, Mexico’s total crude oil production was down by about half, and there are reports that the country may already be a net oil importer. Read More

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