Encyclopedia Entries. The Economic History of Mexico. Richard Salvucci, Trinity University. Preface1This article is a brief interpretive survey of some of the major features of the economic history of Mexico from pre conquest to the present. I begin with the pre capitalist economy of Mesoamerica. The colonial period is divided into the Habsburg and Bourbon regimes, although the focus is not really political the emphasis is instead on the consequences of demographic and fiscal changes that colonialism brought. Next I analyze the economic impact of independence and its accompanying conflict. A tentative effort to reconstruct secular patterns of growth in the nineteenth century follows, as well as an account of the effects of foreign intervention, war, and the so called dictatorship of Porfirio Diaz. I then examine the economic consequences of the Mexican Revolution down through the presidency of Lzaro Crdenas, before considering the effects of the Great Depression and World War II. This is followed by an examination of the so called Mexican Miracle, the period of import substitution industrialization after World War II. The end of the miracle and the rise of economic instability in the 1. I conclude with structural reforms in the 1. North American Free Trade Agreement NAFTA, and slow growth in Mexico since then. It is impossible to be comprehensive and the references appearing in the citations are highly selective and biased where possible in favor of English language works, although Spanish is a must for getting beyond the basics. This is especially true in economic history, where some of the most innovative and revisionist work is being done, as it should be, by historians and economists in Mexico. 2Where and What is Mexico For most of its long history, Mexicos boundaries have been shifting, albeit broadly stable. Colonial Mexico basically stretched from Guatemala, across what is now California and the Southwestern United States, and vaguely into the Pacific Northwest. There matters stood for more than three centuries3. The big shock came at the end of the War of 1. Weve all done it. Thrown ourselves onto the couch, phone in hand, determined to like only a few Instagram pictures of dogs in backpacks and inspirational. Mexican American War in U. S. history. The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo 1. Mexicos former territory to the United Statesrecall Texas had been lost in 1. The northern boundary now ran on a line beginning with the Rio Grande to El Paso, and thence more or less west to the Pacific Ocean south of San Diego.
With one major adjustment in 1. Gadsden Purchase or Treaty of the Mesilla and minor ones thereafter, because of the shifting of the Rio Grande, there it has remained. Prior to the arrival of the Europeans, Mexico was a congeries of ethnic and city states whose own boundaries were unstable. Prior to the emergence of the most powerful of these states in the fifteenth century, the so called Triple Alliance popularly Aztec Empire, Mesoamerica consisted of cultural regions determined by political elites and spheres of influence that were dominated by large ceremonial centers such as La Venta, Teotihuacan, and Tula. While such regions may have been dominant at different times, they were never economically independent of one another. At Teotihuacan, there were living quarters given over to Olmec residents from the Veracruz region, presumably merchants. Mesoamerica was connected, if not unified, by an ongoing trade in luxury goods and valuable stones such as jade, turquoise and precious feathers. This was not, however, trade driven primarily by factor endowments and relative costs. Climate and resource endowments did differ significantly over the widely diverse regions and microclimates of Mesoamerica. Yet trade was also political and ritualized in religious belief. Youve got problems, Ive got advice. This advice isnt sugarcoatedin fact, its sugarfree, and may even be a little bitter. Welcome to Tough Love. Even more Account Options. Sign in Search settings. For example, calling the shipment of turquoise from the U. S. Southwest to Central Mexico the outcome of market activity is an anachronism. In the very long run, such prehistorical exchange facilitated the later emergence of trade routes, roads, and more technologically advanced forms of transport. But arbitrage does not appear to have figured importantly in it. 4In sum, what we call Mexico in a modern sense is not of much use to the economic historian with an interest in the country before 1. In these years, specificity of time and place, sometimes reaching to the village level, is an indispensable prerequisite for meaningful discussion. At the very least, it is usually advisable to be aware of substantial regional differences which reflect the ethnic and linguistic diversity of the country both before and after the arrival of the Europeans.
There are fully ten language families in Mexico, and two of them, Nahuatl and Quich, number over a million speakers each. 5Trade and Tribute before the Europeans. In the codices or deerskin folded paintings the Europeans examined or actually commissioned, they soon became aware of a prominent form of Mesoamerican economic activity tribute, or taxation in kind, or even labor services. In the absence of anything that served as money, tribute was forced exchange. Tribute has been interpreted as a means of redistribution in a nonmonetary economy. Social and political units formed a basis for assessment, and the goods collected included maize, beans, chile and cotton cloth. It was through the tribute the indigenous empires mobilized labor and resources. There is little or no evidence for the existence of labor or land markets to do so, for these were a European import, although marketplaces for goods existed in profusion. To an extent, the preconquest reliance on barter economies and the absence of money largely accounts for the ubiquity of tribute. The absence of money is much more difficult to explain and was surely an obstacle to the growth of productivity in the indigenous economies. The tribute was a near universal attribute of Mesoamerican ceremonial centers and political empires. The city of Teotihuacan ca. CE, with a population of 1. Mexico depended on tribute to support an upper stratum of priests and nobles while the tributary population itself lived at subsistence. Tlatelolco ca 1. Pacific to Gulf coasts that supported an upper stratum of priests, warriors, nobles, and merchants. It was this urban complex that sat atop the lagoons that filled the Valley of Mexico that so awed the arriving conquerors. While the characterization of tribute as both a corve and a tax in kind to support nonproductive populations is surely correct, its persistence in altered i. The tributary area of the Mexica Aztec is a political term, not an ethnic one broadly comprised a Pacific slope, a central valley, and a Gulf slope. These embrace a wide range of geographic features ranging from rugged volcanic highlands and even higher snow capped volcanoes to marshy, humid coastal plains. Even today, travel through these regions is challenging. Lacking both the wheel and draught animals, the indigenous peoples relied on human transport, or, where possible, waterborne exchange. However we measure the costs of transportation, they were high. In the colonial period, they typically circumscribed the subsistence radius of markets to 2. Under the circumstances, it is not easy to imagine that voluntary exchange, particularly between the coastal lowlands and the temperate to cold highlands and mountains, would be profitable for all but the most highly valued goods. In some parts of Mexicoas in the Andean regionlinkages of family and kinship bound different regions together in a cult of reciprocal economic obligations. Yet absent such connections, it is not hard to imagine, for example, transporting woven cottons from the coastal lowlands to the population centers of the highlands could become a political obligation rather than a matter of profitable, voluntary exchange. The relatively ambiguous role of markets in both labor and goods that persisted into the nineteenth century may perhaps derive from just this combination of climatic and geographical characteristics. It is what made voluntary exchange under capitalistic markets such a puzzlingly problematic answer to the ordinary demands of economic activity. See the relief map below for the principal physical features of Mexico. http www. MGI1. jpgSee the political map below for Mexican states and state capitals. Used by permission of the University of Texas Libraries, The University of Texas at Austin. New Spain or Colonial Mexico The First Phase. Mexico was established by military conquest and civil war. How to Silence Your Jabbering Coworker. Youve got problems, Ive got advice. This advice isnt sugar coatedin fact, its sugar free, and may even be a little bitter. Welcome to Tough Love. This week we have a guy who cant get his annoying coworker to stop talking to him about politics during his lunch break. Youve got problems, Ive got advice. This advice isnt sugar coatedin fact, its sugar free, andRead more Read Keep in mind, Im not a therapist or any other kind of health professionaljust a guy whos willing to tell it like it is. I simply want to give you the tools you need to enrich your damn lives. If for whatever reason you dont like my advice, feel free to file a formal complaint here. Now then, lets get on with it. Hi Patrick,Ive got this one coworker who just loves to hear himself talk, and for some reason hes chosen me specifically to be the recipient of his blessings. He keeps coming up to me during lunch breaks wanting to talk European politics. Im European and interested in politics so with anyone else I would usually welcome this topic however, he isnt actually interested in my opinion at all, he just seems to want to show off how much he knows. I know all of these things, probably better than him. But no matter how often I interjected Yes, I know, he just kept talking at me, getting louder and louder at every interjection, and keeping up a constant string of umms and aahs to make sure I couldnt say anything even when he was picking his next words. I am not very good at communicating when Im uncomfortable in a situation, so I just sit there staring blankly at nothing while he talks in my general direction. The problem is, since hes talking about something I actually find interesting, I do occasionally contribute something to the conversation, which obviously keeps him going. Im pretty sure my other coworkers with whom I get on very well have noticed that I am very uncomfortable when this happens, but since he is usually interested in talking to me specifically, they generally stay out of the conversation cant say I blame them. How do I communicate to this guy that I dont care about his opinions and that I dont want him ruining my lunch breaksCheers,Going Deaf. Hey Going Deaf The first thing you need to do is stop responding to him. At all. I know its hard because hes talking about something youre actually interested in, but you absolutely cannot respond in any wayeven if you have the best retort ever. If you nod and give an occasional mmm, hell probably keep talking, but if you actually respond with words, hell ramble on til the end of days my friend. You probably do know more than this guy, but that does not matter to him in the slightest. Hes seeking self affirmation by spouting off his own political knowledge and garbage opinions. Its what makes him feel whole, so if that bugs you, theres no way you can interact with him and expect anything less than this ancient form of verbal torture. But not responding wont fix the problem entirely, G Dizzle. Its just to keep from encouraging the bastard. Clearly your colleagues arent going to save you, and frankly, I wouldnt dive on that grenade either. So, to stop it for good, youll need to take action. Here are a few solutions I recommend Stop him before he gets started. When you see him approach, hold your hand up like youre a crossing guard on a hot day and say, I really cant chat today, Im insert plausible excuse here Or, try this alternative thats worked for me I close my eyes, point my finger up, and say, Im sorry, Im trying to focus on something right now. Putting on headphones and acting like youre concentrating on a hot new audiobook or meditating to gong sounds might work as well. Set a time limit for the conversation, verbally. When he approaches, immediately look at your watch or phone, so he can see it, then say, I can chat persons name, but only for five minutes. Whats up Then listen to him without engaging or interrupting. Stop him at the time limit with a line like, Okay, Im going to get back to this now, or Okay, Im going to just zone out and enjoy the rest of my lunch for a bit. Hes more likely to stop because you gave him a reasonable expectation at the beginning of the conversation. He started talking knowing you could only spare five minutes, and thats what he got. Schedule a time outside of work to talk about politics. Say, Hey, Id really like to talk about all this, but I dont really feel comfortable talking about it at work. Maybe we can grab a coffee and discuss it another time Then, heres the kicker, dont follow through. Keep putting it off and rescheduling, while being stern about not discussing it at work. Hopefully, hell take the hint. Leave during your lunch break. Like, go outside and eat your lunch, grab lunch and a margarita at a nearby restaurant, sit in your car with the radio on and your windows open, anything to get away from this guy and save your sanity. Do it enough times and he might finally realize you dont want to talk to him anymore. Who knows Maybe hell latch onto some other poor sap Hopefully one of those solutions works for you, Going Deaf. If not, you have to put on your big boy pants and stand up for your own well being. Tell him straight up that you dont care about his opinions and that you dont want him ruining your lunch breaks anymore. I guess you can say it nicer, though, if you want. Something like, Im sorry, I dont want to discuss this stuff with you anymore. Id appreciate it if you kept these things to yourself. Or I really need my personal time during my lunch breaks, so Id really appreciate it if youd let me do my own thing. It will be uncomfortable, sorry. But whats worseOne awkward, uncomfortable confrontation, or a lifetime of listening to his bullshit Save yourself. A good conversation is all about the back and forth both parties listening and responding. IfRead more Read. Quickies. Because I just dont have the time or patience for all of you. Miss Patience asks Hi Patrick, I am 2. My relationships are ending due to this. Please advise me. Hey MP First, let me say that your virginity is yours. If you dont want to lose it, you dont have toever. These people ending relationships with you because youre not ready arent right for you. You need someone who understands your feelings and is willing to wait. Just make sure you tell them that when things start to get serious so they dont feel like youre holding out on them for other reasons. That said, theres a difference between not feeling ready and just being afraid of the process itself. If its the latter, learn about sex and arm yourself with some knowledge. Our resident sexpert yup, I went there, Vanessa Marin, has covered the topic of losing your virginity as an adult very well. But if youre not ready, MP, youre not ready. Dont rush something just because some jerks are mad you wont put out. Not all of us lose our virginities at age 1. Camry. If youre still a virginRead more Read. Thats it for this week, but I still have plenty of blunt, honest advice bottled up inside. Tell me, whats troubling you Is work getting you down Are you having problems with a friend or a coworkerIs your love life going through a rough patch Do you just feel lost in life, like you have no direction Tell me, and maybe I can help. I probably wont make you feel all warm and fuzzy inside, but sometimes what you need is some tough love. Ask away in the comments below, or email me at the address you see at the bottom of the page please include ADVICE in the subject line. Or tweet at me with Tough. Love Til next time, figure things out for yourself.