Abstract

ALARCON, Diana; ZEPEDA, Eduardo  and  RAMIREZ, Baruch. Mexico before the Objectives of the Millenium. Inv. Econ [online]. 2006, vol.65, n.257, pp.91-148. ISSN 0185-1667.

In september of 2000, the United Nations General Assembly decided by consensus to adopt the Millenium Declaration. Derived from this Declaration, the Millenium Objectives propose specific targets for human development that must be reached before 2015. As a middle-income country, Mexico has already reached some of the targets in question and has demonstrated good forward progress in the fulfillment of others. A good portion of that progress is associated with the rapid social advances registered during the decade of the 1990s. In a few areas, however, the situation is altogether different. The analysis done in this paper shows areas in which progress during the 1990s was slow, areas in which the social achievements were insufficient, and situations in which, despite good average results, important sectors of the population still lack basic services due to the inequality that characterizes the country's development. In particular, this work highlights the weak association existing between economic growth, income distribution and the incidence of poverty. Our review of social progress during the last few years leads us to conclude that the fulfillment of the objectives subscribed to by Mexico requires a redefinition in the development priorities such that economic growth be more closely aligned with social development in order to close up the great divide that exists among the different population sectors and regions.

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