Push-Pull: Revving Up the Border as an Economic Engine

In his 1989 book The New Realities, Peter Drucker suggested that the only way to curtail migration from south of the border was for Mexico to boost its own economy. And that, he added, meant that Mexico must accept “economic integration with the U.S.” Today, after his meeting at the White House with Mexican President Felipe Calderon, President Obama offered a similar notion. He pointed out that Mexico is one of the U.S.’s largest trading partners, supporting “countless jobs” in both countries. The border, Obama added, “must be an engine, and not a brake, on our economic growth.” China is now a bigger total trading partner with the U.S. (in goods) than is Mexico. Will Mexico ever take the lead?