The chapters, or "policynotes," of this report, creating the foundations forequitable growth in Mexico 2006-2012, are dedicated totrying to solve parts of the puzzle as to why Mexico'slevel of economic development has failed to approach thelevel of its NAFTA trading partners, or the level of atypical OECD member state. Each chapter of this new reportuses the 2000 policy notes as a reference. In this report,the authors have tried to be selective on the issues, andthey explored multi-sector issues by joining themes such aseducation and labor markets in one chapter, or health andold age security in a single chapter. In this overview, theauthors set the stage by outlining the common themes andmessages that emerge from the eleven chapters of thisreport. There are three themes that are highlighted: 1)Mexico can do better; 2) Mexico is between two worlds andthere are two worlds within Mexico. Mexico's standardsof living, human and physical capital and institutions areall quite advanced compared to low income countries orcompared to lower middle income countries in Latin America.On the other hand, Mexico lags far behind OECD averages.Within Mexico, there is a further dichotomy due to the highdegree of inequality across individuals and across regions;3) Policies for equitable growth are the answer. In thechapters of this report, it is emphasized that institutionalchange is the key to improving the regulation andperformance of both the public and private sectors. Theauthors also highlight that restructuring governmentspending in a variety of sectors-in particular, establishinga more progressive allocation of spending-would be the keyto initiating a phase of more growth and more equitablegrowth. Finally, they note that despite progress inimproving economic and environmental stability in Mexico,there is still a remaining agenda of reform to assure sustainability.
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