THE POLITICAL-ECONOMY OF PRIVATIZATION IN MEXICO, 1983-92

This paper examines the economic, political and social effects associa ted with the unprecedented dismantling of Mexico's parastatal apparatu s over the past decade. In so doing, it highlights the major economic and political arguments advanced by neoliberal enthusiasts for privati zation in the region and subjects then to a critical analysis in light of the Mexican experience. The essay begins by reviewing and evaluati ng the highly uneven economic and social impact of the various stabili zation programs implemented over the past decade. It advances the argu ment that the debt crisis and its aftermath became a valuable instrume nt for reducing the economic and political autonomy of the Mexican sta te, thus enabling powerful factions of the international financial and banking community to impose a growth strategy that further inserts th e Mexican economy in a dependent and subordinate fashion into the glob al economy-a process that will be reinforced with the recent passage o f NAFTA. The paper then discusses the evolution, rationale and impact of the country's privatization program: the most radical expression of the current neoliberal program. It shows, through a variety of concre te examples, how the state's withdrawal from key economic sectors has generated a massive loss of employment, compromised hard-won labor rig hts for all Mexican workers, generated an unprecedented concentration of economic power in key industries, such as banking and finance, attr acted mostly speculative capital into the stock market and, perhaps mo st importantly, reduced the Mexican state's ability to foster policies that promote broad-based economic development.