Progress and the Standard of Living in Contemporary Mexico

No topic is of greater relevance in the twentieth century than modernization. In spite of the remarkable growth of production in the industrialized world in the past decades, it would be difficult to name one country that has passed from the underdeveloped to developed category in the capitalist world. Mexico has, in the judgement of a number of economists and historians of development, been experiencing rapid rates of growth as measured by GNP, per capital income, and industrial output that have created a virtual milagro Mexicano. The contention of this paper is that a celebration of the success of the developmental program in Mexico is premature. Several tendencies are quite distressing in Mexico today. Moreover those elements seem to cast into doubt the judgement of the best known commentators on the subject. Clark W. Reynolds, for example, cited such figures as the increase in GDP of 6.1 percent between 1950 and 1965 and the rate of increase in industrial production of 7.7 percent between 1940 and 1960 in order to conclude that in spite of difficulties: