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The paper examines the behavior of monetary policy and the institutional organization of economic policy in Mexico during the years of financial liberalization and the outgrowth of the financial industry. It argues that these policies have favored monetary and financial stability at the cost of reducing investment and negatively affecting the strength of the productive structure and the international competitiveness of the economy. The paper argues that such negative results, with the passage of time, increase the odds that current monetary policy will become unable to pursue monetary and financial stability. Unlike other outstanding critical literature, the emphasis of our evaluation regarding current policy's negative consequences is on the reduction of public investment that the institutional organization of economic policy has produced, instead of the overvaluation of the real exchange rate. As a final point, the paper discusses how institutional organization can be reformed to avoid further weakening of the productive structure and international competitiveness of the Mexican economy.

To analyse the changes in eating patterns in Argentina from 1961 to 2011, and to assess changes in overweight and obesity in their socioeconomic and political context, we performed a hierarchical cluster analysis. We used the information from Food Balance Sheets of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation to identify dietary patterns of apparent consumption. Years were grouped into five patterns. The food group with the highest apparent consumption was cereals (30% of total kcal/person/day) although this decreased slightly. Meats were second and their contribution decreased by 12%. The following foods contribution increased during the period: Sugar and milk by 2% and vegetable oils by 6%. The changes observed in the number of kcal/person/day were in line with changes in real wage, and coincided with economic and political crises that Argentina experienced during that period. Changes in eating patterns allow us to interpret that they relate to the increase in overweight and obesity.

La economia mexicana fue una de las economias que mas crecio en la segunda mitad del siglo xx; sin embargo, a partir de la crisis de deuda de principios de la decada de 1980 el crecimiento se debilito y no ha logrado recuperar el impetu perdido. Entre 1950 y 1981 la tasa de crecimiento exponencial del producto interno bruto per capita a precios constantes (PIBpC) fue de 3.3%, mientras que el crecimiento entre 1982 y 2011 fue solo de 0.5% (Feenstra, Inklaar y Timmer, 2015). Para tener una dimension del elevado costo del estancamiento economico notese que si el PIBpC hubiera mantenido su crecimiento tendencial en el periodo 1982-2011, el PIBpC en 2011 seria 2.4 veces mas alto de lo que fue efectivamente. Otro ejercicio interesante es observar que si tenemos en cuenta el periodo 1950-1977 (lo que implica excluir los anos de crecimiento acelerado debido al descubrimiento de grandes reservas de petroleo), la tasa de crecimiento del PIBpC fue de 2.8%; por lo tanto, si este crecimiento se hubiese mantenido entre 1982 y 2011, el PIBpC en la actualidad seria al menos dos veces mayor. El efecto de la crisis de deuda tambien afecto al nivel del PIBpC, que volvio a alcanzar en 2004 los guarismos de 1982. De lo anterior se infiere que en los ultimos 30 anos hubo un proceso de divergencia con la economia estadounidense. En tanto que en 1981 el PIBpC mexicano equivalia al 44% del PIBpC del vecino pais y en 2011 fue de solo el 30%. La comparacion se vuelve mas espectacular si la hacemos respecto a Corea del Sur, ya que el PIBpC de Mexico era 2.45 veces mayor al de esa economia en 1981 y de 45% en 2011.(1)...

El objetivo de este artículo es demostrar que la utilización de un modelo de crecimiento guiado por exportaciones en un régimen de metas de inflación ha resultado nocivo para el crecimiento económico en México, pues ha sido necesario aplicar un tipo de cambio sobrevaluado y contraer los salarios reales. La razón es que la dependencia de insumos importados del sector exportador impide que México use un tipo de cambio competitivo, como lo hicieron otros países con una estrategia similar, mientras que la contracción de los salarios comprime el mercado interno e inhibe el crecimiento desde adentro. Se estiman dos modelos tipo ARDL con los cuales se busca dar cuenta de esta hipótesis.

"En el presente artículo se realiza un análisis descriptivo sobre la estructura económica, la distribución del ingreso, los patrones de alimentación y las condiciones nutricionales, para conjugar evidencias provenientes de la epidemiología y de la economía. Se argumenta que la alimentación y la nutrición dependen de la evolución de esta estructura y de la distribución del ingreso, signadas en México durante los últimos años por un proceso de liberalización del comercio exterior y de la cuenta de capital y por una intervención pública que supone que las fuerzas de mercado pueden generar resultados positivos en términos de desarrollo y bienestar social. Se concluye que el proceso de liberalización ha promovido inequidad social, desigualdad en alimentación y malnutrición."

The paper deals with the debt crisis in the euro zone. The literature presents two interpretations of these events. The first attributes the responsibility of the crisis to the political authorities of the countries under attack. They let the citizens live beyond the standard allowed by the economy. This interpretation supports the use of austerity policies to solve the crisis. The second interpretation argues that the political authorities of all the European Union are responsible for the crisis. They kept alive an institutional organization of the coordination process between monetary and fiscal policies, which was known to be faulty. The paper presents theoretical and empirical arguments in favour of the second interpretation. It argues that austerity fails to stabilise the public debt and contends that a coordination process based on effective enforcement and on a European Fiscal Agency can achieve better results by favouring the adoption of coordinated and expansive fiscal policies.

A Domar–Pasinetti model of an emerging-market open economy with output growth endogenous to aggregate demand is presented, with foreign debt, interest and exchange rates playing a relevant role in the dynamics of the debt-to-GDP ratio (d). The model is used to assess the macroeconomic effects of the orthodox policy (fiscal austerity) implemented by policy makers to cope with the foreign debt crisis of Latin America in the 1980s. Such policy involved high costs in terms of welfare, job and output losses to no avail, since the region's financial fragility remained largely unresolved, in the end resulting in the so-called 'lost decade'. The main policy insight of Domar's and Pasinetti's analysis, we argue, posits a pro-growth expansionary policy as the most efficient strategy to abate and bring d to a sustainable path. Finally, we contend that Latin America's experience provides insight for dealing with the ongoing crisis of the periphery of the eurozone. Copyright , Oxford University Press.

The purpose of this study was to identify whether there were changes in the composition of dietary patterns from 1961 to 2009, if food patterns by income level and the increase in the price of certain basic foods of the diet in the socioeconomic Mexican context, could explain the nutrition transition and the double burden of malnutrition. We conducted an ecological study with data from FAO balance sheets. To construct eating patterns cluster analysis was performed. Engel curves were developed with data from the 2012 INEGI ENGH survey and evolution of the relative price of some foods was calculated. The diet was defined in three dietary patterns. The increase in the total availability of energy increased from 2316 kcal/person/day in 1961 to 3146 in 2009. Dietary pattern modifications are in line with the nutrition transition and the double burden of malnutrition. It was observed that the energy derived from cereals and from legume (common beans) was significantly reduced, and simultaneously, the energy from sugars, animal foods and vegetable fats had a dramatic increase. Spending on food was differential according to income level. Malnutritionis mediated by the unequal distribution of income, the relatively low cost of energy-dense foods, the increased cost of nutritious foods, and limited support to agriculture.

In order to analyze whether the increase in mortality from diabetes in Mexico is related to changes in eating patterns over the period 1961 to 2009, and if they in turn could be explained in the Mexican socioeconomic context, we conducted an ecological study with information from the Food Balance Sheets FAO. A cluster analysis was performed to shape eating patterns (three) and some socioeconomic variables were analyzed. It was observed that the energy derived from cereals and legumes (beans) was significantly reduced, and simultaneously, energy from sugars, animal foods, and vegetable fats had a significant increase. Various socioeconomic conditions may have favored changes in diet and increased mortality from diabetes. These conditions are: trade liberalization, low growth, rising inequality and informal work, declining agriculture, falling real wages in relation to the value of what is called the “basic food and non-food baskets”, increasing prices of healthy food,low cost of processed foods and beverages, and the lack of control in the food market.

Los bancos centrales que aplican un marco de política monetaria de metas u objetivos de inflación niegan que las intervenciones en los mercados cambiarios sean un instrumento adicional de su praxis política para alcanzar los objetivos de política monetaria, so pretexto de que en un régimen de tipo de cambio flexible esas intervenciones no son efectivas. Este trabajo analiza, con base en evidencia empírica, el papel de las intervenciones cambiarias esterilizadas en el marco de la política monetaria del Banco de México. Nuestros resultados revelan que las intervenciones cambiarias esterilizadas sí han sido efectivas y que el tipo de cambio ha desempeñado un papel esencial en la estabilización de la inflación en México.

Il saggio analizza la crisi del debito pubblico nell'Eurozona discutendo le principali interpretazioni del fenomeno, sia quella che ne attribuisce la responsabilità alle autorità politiche dei paesi in crisi, per avere concesso ai propri cittadini di vivere al di sopra elle possibilità reali dell'economia, sia quella che ne attribuisce la responsabilità alle autorità di tutta l'UNione Europa per avere mantenuto in vita un'iorganizzazione istituzionale difettosa del processo di coordinazione tra le politiche monetarie e fiscali. L'articolo presenta argumenti teorici ed empirici che criticano l'ipotesi che l'austerità stabilizza il debito pubblico e propone come alternativa di politica economica una riforma del processo di coordinamento delle politiche basata nell'istituzione di un'Agenzia Fiscale Europea che possa generare migliori risultati favorendo l'adozione di politiche fiscali coordinate ed espansive.

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ResumenLa diabetes y la obesidad como problemas de salud pública en México son analizados a la luz de su magnitud y distribución en el contexto de algunos de sus determinantes sociales: alimentación, sedentarismo y distribución del ingreso. Se presentan aspectos generales sobre estas enfermedades y su comportamiento epidemiológico en México. Se revisa el papel de la alimentación como determinante social fundamental para la presencia de la diabetes tipo 2 y obesidad. Asimismo, se argumenta sobre la importancia de la actividad física para su prevención y control. Se destaca el papel de la distribución de grasa corporal y la obesidad como producto de la transición alimentaria. Finalmente se expresan algunas recomendaciones que podrían contribuir a fortalecer las estrategias propuestas para disminuir su frecuencia, la mortalidad y las complicaciones de estas enfermedades.AbstractDiabetes and obesity as public health problems in Mexico are analyzed in light of the magnitude and distribution in the context of some of its social determinants: diet, sedentary lifestyle and income distribution. General aspects of these diseases and their epidemiological comportment in Mexico are presented. The role of food as a fundamental social determinant for the presence of type 2 diabetes and obesity is reviewed. It also argues for the importance of physical activity for their prevention and control. The role of body fat distribution and obesity as a result of the nutrition transition is emphasized. Finally some recommendations that could help to strengthen the proposed strategies to diminish their frequency, mortality and complications of these diseases are expressed.