Federico Reyes Heroles
How do you measure the value of a nation? To many, Adam Smith and his famous book The Wealth of Nations will come to mind. It is forgotten that the original title was An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations. Smith was going to the causes of prosperity. For him, the freedom of individuals to produce and exchange goods under conditions of internal and external competition generates more welfare than state intervention. On many occasions, the latter inhibits the individual force that arises from pursuing self-interest. This is where the machinery of thought began its march: economics. In that route, even worse, few remember Smith’s formidable previous text, The Theory of Moral Sentiments. There, the Scotsman explores the very fabric of ethics and morality in citizens.
But of course, factual, natural conditions – the quality of the land, access to the sea, mining potential, and geographical location – also explain prosperity. The matter becomes more complicated here since countries with great natural wealth -Brazil, Argentina, and Mexico- do not achieve full prosperity. In contrast, other small nations, such as the Netherlands, Portugal, and Japan, stood out and even became empires. The Economist annually publishes a fantastic summary of a country’s main characteristics: population, territory, arable land, the share of agriculture, industry, and services in GDP, per capita income, and educational and health levels. It is becoming increasingly evident that natural wealth determines little of the evolution of nations. Another book that opened new horizons in this direction was The Birth of Plenty by William J. Bernstein. It highlights those intangibles that become the true foundations of well-being: educational levels, technological development, and… the strength and stability of institutions—another type of wealth. In globalization, everything is measured; there are multidimensional radars since billions can travel from one hemisphere to another with a click. That is what the rating agencies do. Moody’s announced a negative credit outlook for Mexico.
Mexico’s value in the eyes of the world has fallen precipitously in the past months. The institutional destruction we have witnessed has shown that our democratic scaffolding has been demolished. The 2024 elections, in which the president in office violated the electoral rules with ostentation to promote his movement and his candidate, were only the beginning. As if that were not enough, a National Electoral Institute that took decades to build was captured by the Executive, as well as the Electoral Tribunal. A government that illegally announced -hours after the election- that they would do whatever was necessary to crush the minorities, and… they did it. Then, the degrading role of the federal and local legislators, voting what they had evidently not been able to read, let alone study. Local congresses that, in minutes, gave their consent to constitutional modifications that changed the democratic regime. The extortion and purchase were caricatured. What kind of Mexico is this?
Add to this the ominous persecution of the Judicial Power to amputate the functions of constitutional control that correspond to any Supreme Court. An uncovered Republic. As if this were not enough, the inexplicable effort to destroy the mechanisms that allowed citizens to follow up on public spending. We will de facto lose an individual right. Pemex and its debt as an obsession, which will deprive Mexicans of resources for health, education, and security, shows that we have yet to understand true wealth. Cost of violence, 3.4% of GDP. For the fight against impunity, 0.64%. The appointment of the head of the CNDH was another great offense.
Seriousness, certainty, respect for institutions?
In the eyes of the world, Mexico is worth much less today.
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