Social Structures of Accumulation and the Condition of the Working Class in Mexico

Latinos in Kansas City: The Political Economy of Placemaking

“…NAFTA's advocators argued that as the agreement created new jobs and economic opportunities, Mexican immigration to the United States would be reduced (M. G. Gonzales 1999). However, dispossessions, labor displacements, and declining living standards increased after NAFTA and accelerated migratory processes (Salas 2010). By 1996, "80 percent of the Mexican population lived in poverty" (M. G. Gonzales 1999, 225).…”

Introduction to Handbook on Social Structure of Accumulation Theory

“…The Gordon-Bowles-Weisskopf methodology was successfully applied to Greece (Mihail, 1993), Canada (Strain and Grant, 1991/92), and South Korea (Jeong, 1997) in the 1990s. The 2010 volume, Contemporary Capitalism and Its Crises: Social Structure of Accumulation Theory for the 21st Century (McDonough et al, 2010), contained chapters on South Africa (Heintz, 2010), Mexico (Salas, 2010), and the Arab World, specifically Egypt, Jordan and Kuwait (Pfeifer, 2010). William I.…”

crisis-causes-prospects-and-alternatives

“…A restrictive monetary policy allowed for a steadily falling rate of inflation -from an annual variation of 8.96 per cent in 2000 to 4.05 per cent in 2006. The negative impact of the economic policies of neoliberal inspiration is evidenced by a virtually stagnant situation prevailing in the present decade, particularly in relation to GDP per capita (Salas, 2010). Nevertheless,…”

“…The Salinas administration (1988)(1989)(1990)(1991)(1992)(1993)(1994) pushed the new export-oriented model forward at full speed. The new strategy called for minimalist state participation, privatization, deregulation and the abandonment of income redistribution mechanisms that had been built during the 1930s (Salas, 2010). As growth recovered and inflation wound down, the new strategy and the signing of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) in 1993 were hailed as the mechanisms that would allow Mexico to join the select group of privileged First World countries (Aspe Armella, 1993).…”

“…Since that year, unstable growth has been the rule. Although inequality and poverty tended to decrease after 2000, by 2006 this process had slowed (Salas, 2010;Moreno-Brid and Ros, 2009), and poverty remains high (Zepeda et al, 2009). As the latter show, contrary to the expectations of orthodox policy, trade liberalization has not improved the economic performance of Mexico; neither has it created better jobs or improved income levels.…”