Laveaga's Socialistic Laboratories

Whether she realized it or not, Gabriela Laveaga's Jungle Laboratories is the story of the failure of socialism ("Mexican style") centering on the production of barbasco and the Echeverria Administration's attempt to "modernize" and fulfill the hopes and aspirations of the Mexican Revolution of 1910.  The creation of the state industry (Proquivemex) as a vehicle for the ascertainment of the Revolution's goals ended as all socialistic schemes do, disaster!  Proquivemex and the other state-owned companies many of which closed in the 1980s, as Laveaga briefly notes, greatly contributed to the country becoming an economic basket case. (p. 198)

While not as explicit as Mintz, Laveaga's analysis is Marxist: yam pickers not fully cognizant of the result of their labors ("alienation"); "exploitation" by transnational pharmaceuticals; the "evils" of the middlemen.

Laveaga's lack of understanding of basic economics is on display in her discussion of the peso devaluation which calls into question her interpretation of Mexican economic history in which she covers: "Accelerating this transformation [rural to industrial] was the 1953 peso devaluation, which not only stabilized the economy, but also enticed foreign investment." (p. 95) Later, she bemoans the fact that Mexico did not undertake further monetary madness in not devaluating. (p. 117)

In reality, devaluation is an act of national bankruptcy which in effect robs each person who holds money, in this case the peso, of purchasing power.  It does not lead to economic growth or stabilization, but, instead, price inflation, stagnation and eventual collapse.  It is pure "exploitation."  It is surprising that Laveaga who is concerned about the exploitation of yam pickers by middlemen does not apply her criticism to the criminal actions of the Mexican monetary authorities of the time.

For those who hold any romantic notions that state planning of an economy can actually work, thumbing through the pages of Jungle Laboratories should cure any such fantasies.