Aram: Around the World | Mexico’s celebration one year into the economic crisis

My grandma used to say that the less money a bank has, the bigger its facade is built. This is the same interpretation that I give on Mexico’s reactions to an economic crisis that began over one year back and that has differently impacted countries around the globe. Last week, the celebrations where eminent. Like many other countries in Latin America, Mexico is around the corner to a two-hundred year period of independence. Have counter-crisis policies been so effective to leave room for festivities? The answer is sadly not positive.

Ever since the end of 2008, Mexico’s government has continuously failed to analyze the scale of the crisis and what the correct means to deal with it are. Meanwhile, academia sustains a never ending debate that hasn’t been able to dent the political decision-making process in the matter. Thus, the on-going crisis has not seen obstacle that interferes with its tendency and this has resulted in a serious and wretched set of predictions regarding this year’s total GDP and unemployment rates.

The traditional mixed feeling of partying while things are just not fine was hugely exacerbated this year in the country. Year after year, September is the all-mighty, nationalist and unification provider in Mexico. On the night of the 15th, the National Palace became the country’s favorite attraction when to everyone’s surprise, it turned into a gigantic canvas in which an amazingly colorful and vivid light show was projected. But what is going across the world while Mexico celebrates its tragedy?

By November of last year, China modified its macroeconomic policies and made them flexible in order to maintain its export's stability. Alongside, in October, tax exemption to exporters of products that are heavily transformed in the country grew significantly. In December, the State Council approved nine policies oriented towards national finances in order to foster economic development within.

A particular example of this is the Chinese government’s support to the “ten industry vigor plan”, which selects the automative, steel, textile, equipment manufacturing, shipping, computer and electronics, light, petrochemical, nonferrous metallurgy and logistics industries. With this, they expect to solve medium and long term issues such as low productivity and ad valorem due lack of technology. In the short run, this will maintain economic growth stability while augmenting domestic demand and employment.

In a globalized and interdependent economy where the strings of a crisis pull and push equivalently regardless of distance, the dynamic seems to be to fix as much as possible while keeping balance. Whether it is through injecting money flows to particular industries or protecting sensible areas for growth, each country sees for itself and debates solutions.

However, while Mexico’s facade keeps big and beautiful, China sticks to the Mandarin character configuration of the word “crisis”: challenge and opportunity. With this, they dare to slap the crisis away and keep the negative consequences to a minimum. Will Mexico stand up to the challenge or will it simply hide away its lack of structural response? Stay tuned for the answer...

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::Aram Barra is the Events Coordinator at the Friedrich Ebert Foundation in Mexico fesmex.com, the Latin America and Caribbean representative for Youth R.I.S.E youthrise.org, the Projects Director at Espolea, Espolea.org,
and the International Correspondent for JarrettHill.com.

::Follow Aram on Twitter @AramBarra