When the world thinks of up-and-coming economies, the only non-Asian country that readily comes to mind is Brazil. That, however, may soon change. The stars are aligning, presaging what could prove to be a brilliant future for Mexico.
Latin America’s second-largest economy has long suffered from a combination of problems, some of which produced gruesomely bad press along with a hard-to-erase negative image. The problems, to be sure, have been real. But the image has been anything but balanced. Pictures of brutal killings in the country’s drug wars and high-pitched debates in the U.S. about waves of impoverished Mexican immigrants crossing the border have combined to sketch the portrait of a dangerous country in continuing turmoil.
The reality is more nuanced, and much less dark. In fact, Mexico is doing rather well in many areas, and today it stands poised to take a leap of prosperity -- as long as its new president, Enrique Peña Nieto, manages to harness the favorable conditions the country currently enjoys.