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 Editorials | Opinions | May 2007 
Helping Mexico's Economic Growth Should be US Priority
 Karl Reiner - azstarnet.com
The U.S. Senate is debating possible fixes to the immigration question. The agenda includes proposals for a guest-worker program, a host of new enforcement measures and suggestions for resolving the status of the 12 million undocumented immigrants already in the United States.
Given the rigid positions of the various congressional factions, it will be tough for the Senate to cobble together a bill with enough votes to ensure passage. If the Senate can produce a piece of legislation, the House of Representatives will reluctantly take up the subject later in the year.
Although it is hardly mentioned, one of the major underlying causes of the current problem is Mexico's chronic sluggish economic performance. Mexico has long been beset by a host of internal problems and must also deal with aggressive international competition. The Bank of Mexico predicts the country's economic growth rate will be in the 3.5 percent range in 2007. This is half of the 7 percent rate analysts believe is needed to sustain growth, create jobs and begin to reduce the country's staggering poverty level.
A review of World Bank data shows that for most of the past 25 years, Mexico's economic growth has fallen short of the vital 7 percent mark. One of the predictable results has been the steady increase in the movement of workers to the United States, the place where jobs are available. As a divided Congress ponders immigration remedies, it should also consider the fact that Mexico's lackluster economic performance has become our problem.
To succeed, the solution has to include a program to get the Mexican economy moving.
The U.S. and Mexico share a 2,000-mile border. According to Central Intelligence Agency reports, the U.S. takes 85 percent of Mexico's exports and provides more than 50 percent of the country's imports. Given the physical proximity and the magnitude of the economic relationship, we ought to have known that ignoring Mexico's sputtering economy would be a serious mistake.
Investment is a spur to increasing growth rates. Congress has to prod the White House into increasing aid while at the same time pressing the Mexican government to get its economic regime in order. If Mexico's economy started growing at the 7 percent rate, it would be a big boon to Arizona, and, as jobs were created in Mexico, reduce the pressure on workers to migrate.
If Congress tightens border controls without addressing Mexico's internal economic situation, it will be akin to screwing down the safety valve on a boiler. In Venezuela, the cunning Hugo Chávez has cleverly dusted off a bit of old Leninist philosophy and is pushing his beguiling program as a regional antidote to the problems caused by the dominance of the United States.
It is in our best interest to go for a big economic win in Mexico. A victory there would set an example for the rest of Latin America and would do much to offset the anti-American message being preached by Chávez to a growing number of followers.
Contact Karl Reiner ksreiner@cox.net. |
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