Mexico's Economic Dilemma: The Developmental Failure of Neoliberalism

by James M. Cypher, Raúl Delgado Wise

Overview

Written by two leading scholars, this book provides a detailed analysis of Mexico's political economy. James M. Cypher and Raúl Delgado Wise begin with an examination of Mexico's pivotal economic crisis of the 1980s and the consequent turn toward an export-led economy, later anchored by NAFTA. They show how Mexico, after abandoning frequently successful past practices of state-led development, disastrously tied its future to an unconditional reliance on foreign corporations to promote an export-led growth strategy.

Focusing on Mexico's cheap labor export model, the authors use the maquiladora sector and the auto industry as case studies of the perils of globalization—the "race to the bottom" as capital becomes ever more international. The government's unconstrained free-market policies, they convincingly argue, have resulted in a fragmented economy marked by stagnation, falling wages, informal part-time employment, and massive migration, which define daily life for all but a tiny minority.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780742556614
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Academic
Publication date:	10/10/2011
Series:	Critical Currents in Latin American Perspective Series
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	226
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.60(d)

About the Author

James M. Cypher is a research professor in the doctoral program in development studies, Universidad Autónoma de Zacatecas. Raúl Delgado Wise is director of the doctoral program in development studies, Universidad Autónoma de Zacatecas.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1: Mexico's Socioeconomic Structure and the Current Crisis
Chapter 2: The Political Economy of Mexico's Export-Led Model
Chapter 3: NAFTA: U.S. Restructuring, Mexican Realignment
Chapter 4: The Maquiladora Sector: Building Block of Mexico's Export-Led Model
Chapter 5: The Disguised Maquila Sector and Beyond
Chapter 6: The Direct Exportation of Mexican Labor
Chapter 7: The International Political Economy of Capital Restructuring
Epilogue

What People are Saying About This

Osvaldo Sunkel

The book is well written, firmly based on ample and solid empirical evidence, and supported by painstaking field research and a thorough review of the relevant literature. It is an eye opener and a must for anyone who wants to really understand contemporary Mexico's economy and society—and in fact for all those interested in the darker side of the globalization process.

James K. Galbraith

This is surely the best treatment of modern Mexican economic history and the development of an unending crisis. Mexico's close linking to the United States through NAFTA produced an acute vulnerability to the Great Crisis, and thus Mexico's current condition ought to be an acute embarrassment to the architects of neoliberal globalization.

Editorial Reviews

This is surely the best treatment of modern Mexican economic history and the development of an unending crisis. Mexico's close linking to the United States through NAFTA produced an acute vulnerability to the Great Crisis, and thus Mexico's current condition ought to be an acute embarrassment to the architects of neoliberal globalization.

James K. Galbraith

The book is well written, firmly based on ample and solid empirical evidence, and supported by painstaking field research and a thorough review of the relevant literature. It is an eye opener and a must for anyone who wants to really understand contemporary Mexico's economy and society—and in fact for all those interested in the darker side of the globalization process.

'svaldo Sunkel

Cypher and Delgado Wise (development studies, Univ. Autónoma de Zacatecas, Mexico) both earned their PhDs in the US, carry weighty scholarly credentials, and have published numerous books and articles on various topics relating to migration and economic development. Their more recent works have centered on Mexico. This collaboration is an unapologetic critique of neoliberalism, which the authors maintain was swallowed hook, line, and sinker by US-trained policy makers, who had a total disregard for the dangers these strategies posed for Mexico. The analysis is divided into seven. .. chapters (such as export-led growth, NAFTA, and the maquiladoras), the usual suspects when discussing Mexico's relationship with the US. However, the authors expand this view to include discussion of the globalization of capital. Given that both authors are also part of the cohort of US-trained intellectuals living/working in Mexico, it is interesting that they resurrect dependency theory in their analysis.. .. The text is very readable.. .. Summing Up: Recommended.

Choice

Cypher and Delgado Wise (development studies, Univ. Autónoma de Zacatecas, Mexico) both earned their PhDs in the US, carry weighty scholarly credentials, and have published numerous books and articles on various topics relating to migration and economic development. Their more recent works have centered on Mexico. This collaboration is an unapologetic critique of neoliberalism, which the authors maintain was swallowed hook, line, and sinker by US-trained policy makers, who had a total disregard for the dangers these strategies posed for Mexico. The analysis is divided into seven. .. chapters (such as export-led growth, NAFTA, and the maquiladoras), the usual suspects when discussing Mexico's relationship with the US. However, the authors expand this view to include discussion of the globalization of capital. Given that both authors are also part of the cohort of US-trained intellectuals living/working in Mexico, it is interesting that they resurrect dependency theory in their analysis.. .. The text is very readable.. .. Summing Up: Recommended.

CHOICE

The book is well written, firmly based on ample and solid empirical evidence, and supported by painstaking field research and a thorough review of the relevant literature. It is an eye opener and a must for anyone who wants to really understand contemporary Mexico's economy and society—and in fact for all those interested in the darker side of the globalization process.

Osvaldo Sunkel

Cypher and Delgado Wise (development studies, Univ. Autónoma de Zacatecas, Mexico) both earned their PhDs in the US, carry weighty scholarly credentials, and have published numerous books and articles on various topics relating to migration and economic development. Their more recent works have centered on Mexico. This collaboration is an unapologetic critique of neoliberalism, which the authors maintain was swallowed hook, line, and sinker by US-trained policy makers, who had a total disregard for the dangers these strategies posed for Mexico. The analysis is divided into seven . . . chapters (such as export-led growth, NAFTA, and the maquiladoras), the usual suspects when discussing Mexico's relationship with the US. However, the authors expand this view to include discussion of the globalization of capital. Given that both authors are also part of the cohort of US-trained intellectuals living/working in Mexico, it is interesting that they resurrect dependency theory in their analysis. . . . The text is very readable. . . . Summing Up: Recommended.” —Choice Reviews

“The book is well written, firmly based on ample and solid empirical evidence, and supported by painstaking field research and a thorough review of the relevant literature. It is an eye opener and a must for anyone who wants to really understand contemporary Mexico's economy and society—and in fact for all those interested in the darker side of the globalization process.” —Osvaldo Sunkel, University of Chile

“This is surely the best treatment of modern Mexican economic history and the development of an unending crisis. Mexico's close linking to the United States through NAFTA produced an acute vulnerability to the Great Crisis, and thus Mexico's current condition ought to be an acute embarrassment to the architects of neoliberal globalization.” —James K. Galbraith, The University of Texas at Austin; author of The Predator State

From the Publisher

Cypher and Delgado Wise (development studies, Univ. Autónoma de Zacatecas, Mexico) both earned their PhDs in the US, carry weighty scholarly credentials, and have published numerous books and articles on various topics relating to migration and economic development. Their more recent works have centered on Mexico. This collaboration is an unapologetic critique of neoliberalism, which the authors maintain was swallowed hook, line, and sinker by US-trained policy makers, who had a total disregard for the dangers these strategies posed for Mexico. The analysis is divided into seven. .. chapters (such as export-led growth, NAFTA, and the maquiladoras), the usual suspects when discussing Mexico's relationship with the US. However, the authors expand this view to include discussion of the globalization of capital. Given that both authors are also part of the cohort of US-trained intellectuals living/working in Mexico, it is interesting that they resurrect dependency theory in their analysis.. .. The text is very readable.. .. Summing Up: Recommended.

Choice Reviews