Pitchfork Economics with Nick Hanauer South of the Border: A Mexican Perspective on the Free Trade Era (with Juan Carlos Moreno-Brid)
Oct 21, 2025
Juan Carlos Moreno-Brid, a renowned economist from UNAM and former ECLAC Deputy Director, shares insights on the impact of NAFTA on Mexico's economy. He reveals the startling contrast between soaring exports and stagnant wages, highlighting how Mexico’s dependency on the U.S. was solidified. Moreno-Brid discusses the lack of shared prosperity and the traps of export-led growth, as well as what a truly equitable U.S.–Mexico trade relationship could entail. His expert perspective sheds light on the seldom-heard reality of trade dynamics in North America.
AI Snips
Chapters
Transcript
Episode notes
NAFTA Cemented An Existing Dependence
- NAFTA institutionalized a long-standing U.S.–Mexico economic relationship rather than creating it from scratch.
- Mexico already sent ~80% of its exports to the United States and relied heavily on U.S. FDI and migration ties.
Remittances Anchor Household Incomes
- Remittances from migrants form a crucial income source for many poor Mexican families, especially in the south.
- Those transfers are politically and economically sensitive and can deeply affect household welfare if taxed or disrupted.
Theory Didn’t Produce Shared Prosperity
- The orthodox trade story predicted Mexico would specialize in labor‑intensive exports while the U.S. supplied capital and tech.
- In practice, that textbook division between factors didn’t produce shared prosperity across Mexico.