Mexico was the original "China". China began booming in the 2000s because Mexico became expensive so a lot of low margins manufacturing left Tijuana and Guadalajara for Tianjin and Guangzhou [0], the same way how you now see manufacturing leaving China for cost reasons having a similar economic impact/shock [1].
It's telling that China only caught up with Mexico's GDP per Capita and HDI around 2019-20, and economic issues similar to those in Mexico in the 2000s (excluding the drug war related ones) began manifesting in China as well.
For example, NPR [2], NYT [3][4], and BBC [5] reports from the early 2000s about Mexico are pretty similar to those you'd hear about China today.
Mexico was the original "China". China began booming in the 2000s because Mexico became expensive so a lot of low margins manufacturing left Tijuana and Guadalajara for Tianjin and Guangzhou [0], the same way how you now see manufacturing leaving China for cost reasons having a similar economic impact/shock [1].
It's telling that China only caught up with Mexico's GDP per Capita and HDI around 2019-20, and economic issues similar to those in Mexico in the 2000s (excluding the drug war related ones) began manifesting in China as well.
For example, NPR [2], NYT [3][4], and BBC [5] reports from the early 2000s about Mexico are pretty similar to those you'd hear about China today.
History doesn't repeat but it sure does rhyme.
[0] - http://international-economy.com/TIE_Sp03_Rosen.pdf
[1] - https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.1515/cfer-2024-002...
[2] - https://www.npr.org/2003/12/22/1556267/mexican-economy-strug...
[3] - https://www.nytimes.com/2003/09/20/business/mexico-s-jobless...
[4] - https://www.nytimes.com/2003/05/16/business/mexico-misses-gr...
[5] - http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/812893.stm