Mexico's Economic Dilemma ─ The Developmental Failure of Neoliberalism; A Contemporary Case Study of the Globalization Process

Written by two leading scholars, this book provides a detailed analysis of Mexico's political economy. James M. Cypher and Raul 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. This strategy, they convincingly argue, has 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.

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