At the end of Porfirio Díaz's dictatorship, 97% of arable land belonged to 1% of the population and 95% of peasants were landless, becoming farmworkers in huge haciendas or forming an impoverished urban proletariat whose revolts were crushed one by one.

[41] Important changes in the economic structure included free land distribution to peasants under the concept of ejido, the nationalization of the oil and railroad companies, the introduction of social rights into the 1917 Constitution, the birth of large and influential labor unions, and the upgrading of infrastructure.

During the 1970s, the presidential administrations of Luis Echeverría (1970–76) and José López Portillo (1976–82) tried to include social development in their policies, an effort that entailed increased public spending.

This produced a remarkable growth in public expenditure,[41] and president López Portillo announced that the time had come to "manage prosperity"[43] as Mexico multiplied its oil production to become the world's fourth-largest exporter.

After the crisis of 1982, lenders were unwilling to return to Mexico, and in order to keep the current account in balance, the government resorted to currency devaluations, which sparked unprecedented inflation,[41] reaching an annual record of 139.7% in 1987.

[50] Salinas also introduced strict price controls and negotiated smaller minimum wage increments with the labor union movement under the aging Fidel Velázquez to curb inflation.

[41] More critical interpretations argue that the crisis and subsequent public bailout "preserved, renewed, and intensified the structurally unequal social relations of power and class characteristic of finance-led neoliberal capitalism" in forms institutionally specific to Mexican society with GDP growth spurred by one-time privatizations.

The wealth of Mexico's leading billionaires stems from the privatizations of the 1990s, when the country sold off its state-owned companies at low prices: telecoms (Telmex) to Carlos Slim, trains (Ferromex) to German Larrea, and television (TV Azteca) to Ricardo Salinas.

The Mexican peso parity decreased under president Enrique Peña Nieto, lost in a single year 19.87% of its value Archived March 29, 2017, at the Wayback Machine reaching an exchange rate of $20.37 per dollar in 2017.

[63] Additional figures from SEDESOL (Mexico's social development agency) estimates that 6% (7.4 million people) live in extreme poverty and suffer from food insecurity.

[citation needed] Until the 1980s, the government encouraged the production of basic crops (mainly corn and beans) by maintaining support prices and controlling imports through the National Company for Popular Subsistence (CONASUPO).

[128] Maquiladoras (manufacturing plants that take in imported raw materials and produce goods for domestic consumption and export on behalf of foreign companies) have become the landmark of trade in Mexico.

The success and rapid growth of the Mexican electronics sector are driven primarily by the relatively low cost of manufacturing and design in Mexico, its strategic position as a major consumer electronics market coupled with its proximity to both the large North American and South American markets, whom Mexico shares free trade agreements with; government support in the form of low business taxes, simplified access to loans and capital for both foreign multinational and domestic startup tech-based firms; and a very large pool of highly skilled, educated labor across all sectors of the tech industry.

For example, German multinational engineering and electronics conglomerate Siemens has a significant Mexican base, which also serves as its business and strategy hub for Central American countries and the Caribbean region.

Notable foreign companies which have set up joint venture entities in Mexico include Samsung which formed Semex,[191] a local designer and manufacturer of finished televisions, white goods and individual electronic components like printed circuit boards, LCD panels and semiconductors,[192] Toshiba, who formed Toshiba de México, S.A. de C.V., an administratively autonomous subsidiary which produces electronics parts, televisions and heavy industrial equipment.

As a result, the US and Mexican governments agreed to The Border Industrialization Program, which permitted US companies to assemble products in Mexico using raw materials and components from the US with reduced duties.

For instance, major holidays like Christmas, Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead), and Easter prompt increased spending on gifts, food, and decorations.

[27] This section includes transportation, commerce, warehousing, restaurant and hotels, arts and entertainment, health, education, financial and banking services, telecommunications as well as public administration and defense.

[222] Banco de México is Mexico's central bank, an internally autonomous public institution whose governor is appointed by the president and approved by the legislature to which it is fully responsible.

The Exchange Rate Commission sets policy; it is made up of six members—three each from the Ministry of Finance and Public Credit (Secretaría de Hacienda y Crédito Publico—SHCP) and the central bank, with the SHCP holding the deciding vote.

In August 1996, Banco de México initiated a mechanism to acquire foreign reserves when the peso is strong, without giving the market signals about a target range for the exchange rate.

Mexico's monetary policy was revised following the 1994–95 financial crisis, when officials decided that maintaining general price stability was the best way to contribute to the sustained growth of employment and economic activity.

[citation needed] Petty corruption based on exercise of administrative discretion in matters of zoning and business permits is endemic in Mexico[227] adding about 10% to the cost of consumer goods and services.

[230][231] Using relatively recent night light data and electricity consumption in comparison with Gross County Product, the informal sector of the local economy in Veracruz state is shown to have grown during the period of the Fox Administration though the regional government remained PRI.

The small amount of local spatial autocorrelation that was found suggests a few clusters of high and low literacy rates amongst municipios in Veracruz but not enough to warrant including an I-statistic as a regressor.

Programs in the past that might move economic activity from the informal to the formal sector have not succeeded, suggesting public finance issues such as tax evasion will continue to plague the state with low government revenues.

The NAAEC agreement was a response to environmentalists' concerns that companies would relocate to Mexico or the United States would lower its standards if the three countries did not achieve a unanimous regulation on the environment.

NAFTA allows for a wide list of professions, most of which require at least a bachelor's degree, for which a Mexican or a Canadian citizen can request TN status and temporarily immigrate to the United States.

Prior to NAFTA maquiladora companies importing raw materials from anywhere in the world were given preferential tariff rates by the Mexican government so long as the finished good was for export.

The study examined the potential impacts of trade facilitation reforms in four areas: port efficiency, customs administration, information technology, and regulatory environment (including standards).