[2] His professional career started in Monterrey, in the Department of Economic Studies of Compañía General de Acceptaciones, a private financial institution which later became Grupo Financiero Serfin (nowadays Banco Santander).

From there, he moved to Grupo Alfa, a leader of the Mexican industry in the 1970s, where he served for eight years as director-general for Economic Studies.

In 2000, the Senate approved his nomination by President Vicente Fox to undertake a full eight-year period, which ended on the last day of December 2008.

He has lectured several courses there and, since 2009, at the Graduate School of Public Administration (EGAP) of the Monterrey Institute of Technology (ITESM).

[3] From 1982 to 1983 he visited the Institute for Latin American Studies at the University of Texas at Austin as a research fellow.