Economic history of Mexico

Economic history of Spain Faced with political disruptions, civil wars, unstable currency, and the constant threat of banditry in the countryside, most wealthy Mexicans invested their assets the only stable productive enterprises that remained viable: large agricultural estates. Later generations accused these entrepreneurs of preferring the symbolic wealth of tangible, secure, and unproductive property to the riskier and more difficult but innov... more

Economic history of Spain Faced with political disruptions, civil wars, unstable currency, and the constant threat of banditry in the countryside, most wealthy Mexicans invested their assets the only stable productive enterprises that remained viable: large agricultural estates. Later generations accused these entrepreneurs of preferring the symbolic wealth of tangible, secure, and unproductive property to the riskier and more difficult but innovative and potentially more profitable work of investing in industry, but the fact is that agriculture was the only marginally safe investment in times of such uncertainty. The seeds of economic modernization were laid under the restored Republic (1867-76). President Benito Juárez (1857-72) sought to attract foreign capital to finance Mexico's economic modernization. His government revised the tax and tariff structure to revitalize the mining industry, and it improved the transportation and communications infrastructure to allow fuller... less