J. D. Geanakoplos and H. M. Polemarchakis (1986) prove the generic constrained suboptimality of equilibrium allocations in two period economies with incomplete markets. In these notes we provide a complete and detailed version of their proof with alternative arguments when needed.

This paper explores the influences of financial deepening on growth and its volatility. Following a review of the theoretical literature that has attempted to explain these relationships, the paper presents time series evidence for the cases of Mexico and the US. The results suggest that, in the...

Most estimates of the relationship between pollution and mortality come from developed country data. However, these may not be externally valid to the developing world. Using data from Mexico, we find that an increase of 1 parts per billion in carbon monoxide (CO) results in 0.0032 infant deaths...

This article outlines the economics of non communicable chronic diseases (NCDs), necessary for designing evidence-based health policies to reduce the prevalence of NCDs. The main risk factors of NCDs are manmade: abuse of alcohol, tobacco, junk food, and lack of exercise. Hence we define an...

We develop a point of view that synthesizes the main strands of economic thought, Neoclassical, Keynesian and Marxist, as well as the conclusions of the modern theory of economic growth, discourses that can hardly be thought to belong to the same discipline. These strands can be viewed as a...

A broad summary of the theoretical literature on economic growth shows that this theory has transcended the neoclassical paradigm and that market rationality does not govern the human development process. Instead human development is the appropriate standard for rationality. Using Gidwitz et...

This exercise estimated competitiveness for the 32 federal states of Mexico taking into account production, productivity, employment and wages in 82 activities representing 95% of total GNP. There are two types of states. The dozen of competitive states are more diversified and show higher...

The development of economic institutions characterizes economic growth and promotes efficiency. For example, formal credit institutions operate in the credit market in a more efficient way than informal money lenders because they are better in reducing costs associated with financial market...

Ideas about ethnicity, religion, and nationalism among others, which we label “ideology”, seem to affect the preferences of voters, political parties and finally, the equilibrium policy. In this paper we provide a political-economic model that traces the influence of ideology on determining...

In Mexico, as in most Latin American countries with indigenous populations, it is commonly believed that European phenotypes are preferred to mestizo or indigenous phenotypes. However, it is hard to test for such racial biases in the labor market using official statistics since race can only be...