Mexican Bank Nationalization

The rapid unfolding of events in Mexico since 1982 has made it difficult to gain some historical distance and take a more reflective view of the dramatic reshaping of the Mexican economy and society. This is probably one of the more important contributions of Russell White's book. By taking a long-term historical approach to the creation and transformation of the Mexican banking system (from colonial to the most recent times), White is able to present a comprehensive perspective not only on the banking system's functioning within the economy but also on the complex and deep-rooted interrelationship of commercial, bank, and financial capital vis-a-vis the Mexican state. The focus of White's interest is the developing hegemony of financial capital and the struggles within the Mexican state among various fractions of the bourgeoisie. Jos6 L6pez Portillo's nationalization of the banks in 1982 called into question the hegemony of finance capital and accentuated the political struggle within the power bloc of class fractions holding state power over the basic nature of Mexico's development strategy. White's analysis becomes particularly interesting when he focuses on the Porfiriato, when foreign bank capital rose to ascendency and severely constrained the relative autonomy of the Mexican state. During the first period of postrevolutionary finance, from 1920 to 1940, foreign ownership of the banking system was progressively replaced by national and state ownership. An alliance took shape between the public bureaucracy and the increasingly powerful private bankers, with the state still dominating the financial circuits in the name of a revolutionary program of development. During the second period of postrevolutionary finance, from 1940 to 1970, the power of bank capital began to outstrip that of the state, and government finance became increasingly privatized. In the 1970s the crisis of the Mexican state coincided with the ascendency of finance capital. White claims that the coincidence of interests

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