Although economic openness left Mexico more exposed to the global financial crisis than some of its Latin American peers, its economic profile has since allowed it to bounce back as global trade and investment flows recover. Meanwhile, Mexico has avoided the recent economic weakness of more commodity-dependent economies in the region. At the same time, past structural reforms are starting to bear fruit and bode well for growth prospects in the medium to long term.

This 2017 Article IV Consultation highlights the Mexican economy’s resilience in the face of a complex external environment. Output has continued to grow at a moderate pace while inflation has temporarily risen above the central bank’s target. The flexible exchange rate is playing a key role in helping the economy adjust to external shocks. The economy is projected to grow by 2.1 percent in 2017. Private consumption remains the main driver of activity, supported by manufacturing exports, while investment has remained weak amid uncertainty about Mexico’s future trade relationship with the United States. Growth is expected to slow slightly in 2018 before picking up speed as the uncertainty is resolved.

This book is a compilation of CRS reports from 2017 and 2018 on Mexico, its background and US Relations. Congress has maintained significant interest in Mexico, an ally and top trade partner. The first chapter provides an overview of political and economic conditions in Mexico, followed by assessments of selected issues of congressional interest in Mexico: security and foreign aid, extraditions, human rights, trade, migration, energy, education, environment and water issues. The second chapter or report is a primer on US and Mexican water sharing. It focuses on the sharing of surface waters. The third chapter addresses seasonal agricultural import competition in the NAFTA renegotiation. Mexico's production of some fruits and vegetables - tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, berries and melons - has increased sharply in recent years, in large part to Mexico's investment in large-scale greenhouse production facilities and other types of technological innovations. The next chapter provides an overview of the United States' energy trade with Canada and Mexico. It quantifies current trends in US energy trade across the fuel categories, the potential for future trade, and key factors that may affect that potential - especially energy transportation infrastructure. The last report included in this book is a three-page report on Mexico's transnational criminal organizations (TCOs), which have been identified for years as the greatest organized crime threat to the US given their strong links to drug trafficking, money laundering and other crimes.

The OECD Skills Strategy Diagnostic Report: Mexico sets out eight skills challenges for Mexico.

In 2011 the World Bank—with funding from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation—launched the Global Findex database, the world's most comprehensive data set on how adults save, borrow, make payments, and manage risk. Drawing on survey data collected in collaboration with Gallup, Inc., the Global Findex database covers more than 140 economies around the world. The initial survey round was followed by a second one in 2014 and by a third in 2017. Compiled using nationally representative surveys of more than 150,000 adults age 15 and above in over 140 economies, The Global Findex Database 2017: Measuring Financial Inclusion and the Fintech Revolution includes updated indicators on access to and use of formal and informal financial services. It has additional data on the use of financial technology (or fintech), including the use of mobile phones and the Internet to conduct financial transactions. The data reveal opportunities to expand access to financial services among people who do not have an account—the unbanked—as well as to promote greater use of digital financial services among those who do have an account. The Global Findex database has become a mainstay of global efforts to promote financial inclusion. In addition to being widely cited by scholars and development practitioners, Global Findex data are used to track progress toward the World Bank goal of Universal Financial Access by 2020 and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. The database, the full text of the report, and the underlying country-level data for all figures—along with the questionnaire, the survey methodology, and other relevant materials—are available at www.worldbank.org/globalfindex.

"Since the Mexican government escalated its war on organized crime at the end of 2006, over 150,000 Mexicans have been intentionally murdered. Countless thousands of others have been tortured; no one knows how many have disappeared. Caught between government forces and organized crime cartels, the Mexican people have suffered as atrocities and impunity reign. Based on three years of research, over 100 interviews, and previously unreleased government documents, this report finds a reasonable basis to believe that government forces and members of criminal cartels have perpetrated crimes against humanity in Mexico. The report comprehensively examines why there has been so little justice for atrocity crimes, and finds the main answers in political obstruction. Given the lack of political will to end impunity, new approaches must be taken. The report argues for a series of institutional changes, most importantly the creation of an internationalized investigative body, based inside Mexico, with powers to independently investigate and prosecute atrocity crimes."--Page 4 of cover.

The human rights records of more than ninety countries and territories are put into perspective in Human Rights Watch's signature yearly report. Reflecting extensive investigative work undertaken in 2016 by Human Rights Watch staff, in close partnership with domestic human rights activists, the annual World Report is an invaluable resource for journalists, diplomats, and citizens, and is a must-read for anyone interested in the fight to protect human rights in every corner of the globe.