Monthly Archives: May 2012

The paralysis of which we complain so much reminds me of the “laboratories of democracy” described by Louis Brandeis, a U.S. Supreme Court judge. His argument was that it is impossible to set rules for everything so you have to let things flow and find their place, so that experimentation leads to finding the best […]

A Persian proverb says that “when it’s dark enough you can see the stars”. The national panorama does not seem sufficiently black to be capable of seeing everything that occurs, but it appears evident that, as the recently deceased scholar Guillermo O’Donnell noted, the main reason for disenchantment resides in having believed that “the brickwork […]

Reflecting on his efforts as prime minister and reformer during Russia’s post-Soviet stage, Viktor Chermomyrdinmade an axiomatic affirmation that is as applicable to Mexico as it was to his own country: “We wanted the best but it turned out as always”. Many of the reforms that have been undertaken in Mexico over the past thirty […]

The Walmart case is an affront because it illustrates a facet of Mexican life that no one wants to face. We all know that in Mexico nothing can be resolved without the employment of an intermediary that, in good Spanish, implies give and take, licit or not. The impressive breast beating that the case has […]