Any time a prominent policymaker tells it like it is, my ears perk up. So it was for principally that reason that this recent report from Bloomberg caught my eye. I've spent a fair amount of time in Mexico over the years, as well as a fair amount of time working in finance. Without getting too into the specifics of the challenges plaguing Mexico, all I will say for the moment is that my respect for Mexican Central Bank Governor Guillermo Ortiz continues to grow more and more every day and I've long said that he's the only high level official in that country who has any credibility (don't even get me started on Agustín Carstens). Consider these statements from Ortiz during a recent event at Yale:
"Fixing Mexico is quite easy -- you just twink a few reforms here and there. Things are so screwed up that it is relatively easy to make a jump."
"We have been wasting opportunities for many years for economic reform. We just have a horrible political establishment, and that is part of the problem."
"The ridiculous thing is that the Gulf of Mexico is full of oil and we can't get to it because we don't have sufficient flexibility in our legal framework to induce foreign investment in these fields. We used to produce 3.3 million barrels per day a few years ago, and this is down to 2.5."
"There are a lot of things that can be done easily to increase productivity and the competitiveness of the economy. We just need a little bit of leadership."
The amazing thing about these statements is that if you close your eyes for a moment, they could just as easily be said about Venezuela.
Leave a comment