Ethnic Entrepreneurs, Crony Capitalism, and the Making of the Franco-Mexican Elite

Ethnic Entrepreneurs, Crony Capitalism, and the Making of the Franco-Mexican Elite PDF Author: José Galindo
Publisher: University Alabama Press
ISBN: 0817320806
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 241

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Book Description
A groundbreaking historical narrative of corruption and economic success in Mexico Ethnic Entrepreneurs, Crony Capitalism, and the Making of the Franco-Mexican Elite provides a new way to understand the scope and impact of crony capitalism on institutional development in Mexico. Beginning with the Porfiriato, the period between 1876 and 1911 named for the rule of President Porfirio Díaz, José Galindo identifies how certain behavioral patterns of the Mexican political and economic elite have repeated over the years, and analyzes aspects of the political economy that have persisted, shaping and at times curtailing Mexico’s economic development. Strong links between entrepreneurs and politicians have allowed elite businessmen to receive privileged support, such as cheap credit, tax breaks, and tariff protection, from different governments and to run their companies as monopolies. In turn, successive governments have obtained support from businesses to implement public policies, and, on occasion, public officials have received monetary restitution. Galindo notes that Mexico’s early twentieth-century institutional framework was weak and unequal to the task of reining in these systematic abuses. The cost to society was high and resulted in a lack of fair market competition, unequal income distribution, and stunted social mobility. The most important investors in the banking, commerce, and manufacturing sectors at the beginning of the twentieth century in Mexico were of French origin, and Galindo explains the formation of the Franco-Mexican elite. This Franco-Mexican narrative unfolds largely through the story of one of the richest families in Mexico, the Jeans, and their cotton textile empire. This family has maintained power and wealth through the current day as Emilio Azcárraga Jean, a great-grandson of one of the members of the first generation of the Jean family to arrive in Mexico, owns Televisa, a major mass media company with one of the largest audiences for Spanish-language content in the world.

Ethnic Entrepreneurs, Crony Capitalism, and the Making of the Franco-Mexican Elite

Ethnic Entrepreneurs, Crony Capitalism, and the Making of the Franco-Mexican Elite PDF Author: José Galindo
Publisher: University Alabama Press
ISBN: 0817320806
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 241

Get Book

Book Description
A groundbreaking historical narrative of corruption and economic success in Mexico Ethnic Entrepreneurs, Crony Capitalism, and the Making of the Franco-Mexican Elite provides a new way to understand the scope and impact of crony capitalism on institutional development in Mexico. Beginning with the Porfiriato, the period between 1876 and 1911 named for the rule of President Porfirio Díaz, José Galindo identifies how certain behavioral patterns of the Mexican political and economic elite have repeated over the years, and analyzes aspects of the political economy that have persisted, shaping and at times curtailing Mexico’s economic development. Strong links between entrepreneurs and politicians have allowed elite businessmen to receive privileged support, such as cheap credit, tax breaks, and tariff protection, from different governments and to run their companies as monopolies. In turn, successive governments have obtained support from businesses to implement public policies, and, on occasion, public officials have received monetary restitution. Galindo notes that Mexico’s early twentieth-century institutional framework was weak and unequal to the task of reining in these systematic abuses. The cost to society was high and resulted in a lack of fair market competition, unequal income distribution, and stunted social mobility. The most important investors in the banking, commerce, and manufacturing sectors at the beginning of the twentieth century in Mexico were of French origin, and Galindo explains the formation of the Franco-Mexican elite. This Franco-Mexican narrative unfolds largely through the story of one of the richest families in Mexico, the Jeans, and their cotton textile empire. This family has maintained power and wealth through the current day as Emilio Azcárraga Jean, a great-grandson of one of the members of the first generation of the Jean family to arrive in Mexico, owns Televisa, a major mass media company with one of the largest audiences for Spanish-language content in the world.

Journalism, Satire, and Censorship in Mexico

Journalism, Satire, and Censorship in Mexico PDF Author: Paul Gillingham
Publisher: University of New Mexico Press
ISBN: 0826360084
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 384

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Book Description
Since the 2000 elections toppled the PRI, over 150 Mexican journalists have been murdered. Failed assassinations and threats have silenced thousands more. Such high levels of violence and corruption question one of the fundamental assumptions of modern societies, that democracy and press freedom are inextricably intertwined. In this collection historians, media experts, political scientists, cartoonists, and journalists reconsider censorship, state-press relations, news coverage, and readership to retell the history of Mexico’s press.

Authoritarianism and the Elite Origins of Democracy

Authoritarianism and the Elite Origins of Democracy PDF Author: Michael Albertus
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 110819642X
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 326

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Book Description
This book argues that - in terms of institutional design, the allocation of power and privilege, and the lived experiences of citizens - democracy often does not restart the political game after displacing authoritarianism. Democratic institutions are frequently designed by the outgoing authoritarian regime to shield incumbent elites from the rule of law and give them an unfair advantage over politics and the economy after democratization. Authoritarianism and the Elite Origins of Democracy systematically documents and analyzes the constitutional tools that outgoing authoritarian elites use to accomplish these ends, such as electoral system design, legislative appointments, federalism, legal immunities, constitutional tribunal design, and supermajority thresholds for change. The study provides wide-ranging evidence for these claims using data that spans the globe and dates from 1800 to the present. Albertus and Menaldo also conduct detailed case studies of Chile and Sweden. In doing so, they explain why some democracies successfully overhaul their elite-biased constitutions for more egalitarian social contracts.

The Nature of the Future

The Nature of the Future PDF Author: Emily Pawley
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
ISBN: 0226820025
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 310

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Book Description
"In the seemingly mundane Northern farm of early America and the people who sought to improve its productivity and efficiency, Emily Pawley finds a world rich with innovative practices and marked by a developing interrelationship between scientific knowledge, industrial methods, and capitalism. Agricultural "improvers" became increasingly scientistic, driving tremendous increases in the range and volume of agricultural output-and transforming American conceptions of expertise, success, and exploitation. Pawley's focus on soil, fertilizer, apples, mulberries, agricultural fairs, and experimental stations shows each nominally dull subject to have been an area of intellectual ferment and sharp contestation: mercantile, epistemological, and otherwise"--

Dynamics of Contention

Dynamics of Contention PDF Author: Doug McAdam
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 9780521011877
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 416

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Book Description
"Over the past two decades the study of social movements, revolution, democratization and other non-routine politics has flourished. And yet research on the topic remains highly fragmented, reflecting the influence of at least three traditional divisions. The first of these reflects the view that various forms of contention are distinct and should be studied independent of others. Separate literatures have developed around the study of social movements, revolutions and industrial conflict. A second approach to the study of political contention denies the possibility of general theory in deference to a grounding in the temporal and spatial particulars of any given episode of contention. The study of contentious politics are left to 'area specialists' and/or historians with a thorough knowledge of the time and place in question. Finally, overlaid on these two divisions are stylized theoretical traditions - structuralist, culturalist, and rationalist - that have developed largely in isolation from one another." http://www.loc.gov/catdir/description/cam021/2001016172.html.

Standing up for a Sustainable World

Standing up for a Sustainable World PDF Author: Claude Henry
Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing
ISBN: 1800371780
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 496

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Book Description
The world has witnessed extraordinary economic growth, poverty reduction and increased life expectancy and population since the end of WWII, but it has occurred at the expense of undermining life support systems on Earth and subjecting future generations to the real risk of destabilising the planet. This timely book exposes and explores this colossal environmental cost and the dangerous position the world is now in. Standing up for a Sustainable World is written by and about key individuals who have not only understood the threats to our planet, but also become witness to them and confronted them.

Political Economy, Concisely

Political Economy, Concisely PDF Author: Anthony De Jasay
Publisher: Collected Papers of Anthony de
ISBN: 9780865977785
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
Anthony de Jasay is arguably one of the most independent thinkers and influential libertarian political philosophers of our time. Jasay challenges the reigning paradigms justifying modern democratic government, critiquing what he regards as the well-intentioned but illinformed arguments favoring the modern expansion of state power. The articles collected in "Political Economy, Concisely" are exactly what the title promises: a collection of concise essays that examine the political economy of a free society. Written for the general reader and specialist alike, these essays articulate a convincing classical liberal view of the world, with a no-nonsense approach to modern economic theory. Many of the articles are collected here for the first time in book form. Jasay's aim here is to clarify basic concepts in the realm of political and economic philosophy, such as property, equality and distributive justice, public goods, unemployment, opportunity costs, and welfare. His trenchant comments on European economics and political systems provide specifics that support his more general observations of the modern world. Arranged topically, these essays reflect the wit and intellectual elegance of their author, challenging conventional wisdom in a subtle yet incisive manner. Russian and French tragicomedies are used as striking illustrations of the fact that the human mind seems to be characteristically unwilling to endorse economic common sense against the myth of the beneficial effects of government control. Such lively topics as "How to Get a Free Lunch: Just Apply for It"; "Your Dog Owns Your House"; "Russia Hobbling Along on Clay Feet"; "Who Minds the Gap?" and "Free Riding on the Euro" both entertain and instruct. The topical arrangement within the sequence of the seven parts of the text provides a meaningful context for the reader and allows information to be accessed in a comprehensible manner. This book gives a jargon-free economic account of important matters in our daily lives. Its emphasis on the political rather than the ordinary business of life fills the need for revitalising classical political economy, concisely.

How Asia Works

How Asia Works PDF Author: Joe Studwell
Publisher: Open Road + Grove/Atlantic
ISBN: 0802193471
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 434

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Book Description
“A good read for anyone who wants to understand what actually determines whether a developing economy will succeed.” —Bill Gates, “Top 5 Books of the Year” An Economist Best Book of the Year from a reporter who has spent two decades in the region, and who the Financial Times said “should be named chief myth-buster for Asian business.” In How Asia Works, Joe Studwell distills his extensive research into the economies of nine countries—Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, the Philippines, Vietnam, and China—into an accessible, readable narrative that debunks Western misconceptions, shows what really happened in Asia and why, and for once makes clear why some countries have boomed while others have languished. Studwell’s in-depth analysis focuses on three main areas: land policy, manufacturing, and finance. Land reform has been essential to the success of Asian economies, giving a kick-start to development by utilizing a large workforce and providing capital for growth. With manufacturing, industrial development alone is not sufficient, Studwell argues. Instead, countries need “export discipline,” a government that forces companies to compete on the global scale. And in finance, effective regulation is essential for fostering, and sustaining growth. To explore all of these subjects, Studwell journeys far and wide, drawing on fascinating examples from a Philippine sugar baron’s stifling of reform to the explosive growth at a Korean steel mill. “Provocative . . . How Asia Works is a striking and enlightening book . . . A lively mix of scholarship, reporting and polemic.” —The Economist

Leadership and Growth

Leadership and Growth PDF Author: David Brady
Publisher: World Bank Publications
ISBN: 9780821381014
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 300

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Book Description
Does leadership affect economic growth and development? Is leadership an exogenous determinant or an endogenous outcome of growth and development processes? Can we differentiate between the two? Do leaders decisions and actions vary in importance over various stages in the process, at least in successful cases? How important is choosing the right economic model? To what extent does leadership affect the explicit or implicit time horizons of policy choices? Is leadership an important determinant of inclusiveness in growth? In what ways do leaders build consensus or institutions to allow time for the economic plan to work? What challenges does economic success generate? How do successful leaders adapt to new problems such as income inequality and a rising middle class? Does the creation of new institutions play any role in solving these problems? Why do leaders often choose second best political economic compromises in economic development? This book has been prepared for the Commission on Growth and Development to evaluate the state of knowledge on the relationship between leadership and economic growth. It does not pretend to provide all the answers, but does review the evidence, identify insights and offers examples of leaders making decisions and acting in ways that enhance economic growth. It examines a variety of topics including leaders roles in: promoting national unity, building good solid institutions, choosing innovative and localized policies, and creating political consensus for long run policy implementation. Written by prominent academics and actual policy makers, Leadership and Growth seeks to create a better understanding of the role of leadership in growth and to encourage further studies of the role of leadership in economic growth.

The Politics of Trade and Industrial Policy in Africa

The Politics of Trade and Industrial Policy in Africa PDF Author: Charles Chukwuma Soludo
Publisher: IDRC
ISBN: 1592211658
Category : Africa
Languages : en
Pages : 376

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Book Description
This book maps the process and political economy of policy making in Africa. It's focus on trade and industrial policy makes it unique and it will appeal to students and academics in economics, political economy, political science and African studies. Detailed case studies help the reader to understand how the process and motivation behind policy decisions can vary from country to country depending on the form of government, ethnicity and nationality and other social factors.