It’s that time of year again. Fall foliage, Halloween trick-or-treating, and the next G20 Summit. As the chair and host, Australia, like others before it, want their Summit to be relevant and meaningful.
As Greek debt approaches 200 percent of GDP, unemployment and social unrest continue to rise and the possibility of another round of defaults hangs in the balance, it becomes more and more apparent that underneath the tax evasion, corruption and uncompetitive business climate lies a culture that is perpetuating the economic crisis.
In response to a question regarding whether anyone has studied the cumulative effect of the financial reforms and the impact of these reforms on credit availability and economic recovery– U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke stated, “I can’t pretend that anybody really has. It’s just too complicated.”
In the days leading up to his visit to Washington, D.C., Mexican President Felipe Calderón expressed increasing frustration with comments made by U.S. diplomats in Mexico (made public by WikiLeaks) noting colorfully that “Embajadores le echan mucha crema a sus tacos.”
International trade is a substantial component of the U.S. economy. While U.S. policymakers understandably emphasize the importance of U.S. exports; imports and foreign investment also play a crucial role in a healthy economy.
Despite the daily flow of news headlines about declining security and increasing battles between the Mexican police and drug cartels, Mexico has not fallen off of the business and international credibility radar screen. In fact, the World Bank, in its “Doing Business 2011” report, ranked Mexico 35th out of 183 economies (moving up 6 places from last year) and 1st out of 32 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean – well ahead of the region’s largest economy, Brazil.