by the El Reportero wire services
Agustín Carstens
MEXICO – On 27 February, Agustín Carstens, the country’s top economic policymaker, tried to reassure the financial markets after a 5.8 percent fall in the stockmarket. The last time the Mexican stockmarket fell so heavily, in January 2000, the US was heading into a mild recession. The Mexican economy followed the U.S. into recession, and Mexican economic growth in the first half of President Vicente Fox’s presidentialterm, which began in December 2000, was negligible. The big fear in Mexico is that the U.S. in going into recession again and this will cause major economic problems for Mexico. As President Felipe Calderón Hinojosa has a weak mandate, an economic crisis could easily set off social and political unrest in Mexico.
