Side-by-Side Comparison of Mexico and Brazil

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Elisabeth Malkin and Simon Romero, World Leaders Meet in a Mexico Now Giving Brazil a Run for Its Money. New York Times, June 18, 2012.
www.nytimes.com/2012/06/18/world ... forming-brazil.html

Quote:

"Last year, Mexico’s economy grew faster than Brazil’s * * * The gross domestic product expanded 3.9 percent last year, ahead of Brazil’s growth of 2.7 percent. * * * The reversed fortunes of Latin America’s two largest economies are a sharp contrast to the euphoria over Brazil’s prospects as recently as 2010, when the economy grew 7.5 percent in the last year of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s government.

"The dispute highlights each country’s distinct approach to development. Mexico has been dedicated to open markets, free trade and deregulation. Brazil’s model involves muscular government intervention through big state-controlled companies.

Note:
(a) The report says about these two nations vis-a-vis China three times.

(i) "Brazil’s slowdown can be attributed partly to debt-burdened consumers and the erosion of industrial production, which is tied to the recent strength of Brazil’s currency, the real. On top of that, slowing global growth, particularly in China, has pushed down prices of the commodities that Brazil exports.

"Meanwhile, Mexican factories are exporting record quantities of televisions, cars, computers and appliances, replacing some Chinese imports in the United States and fueling a modest expansion.

(ii) "At the same time, China’s rise has affected Brazil and Mexico in opposite ways: China competes with Mexico and buys from Brazil. Mexico struggled for much of the past decade as Chinese-made products replaced Mexican goods in the United States, which buys 78 percent of Mexico’s exports. And China’s demand for raw materials helped lift Brazil’s economy as stability allowed the government to redistribute the wealth and expand credit. * * * said Gray Newman, an economist for Latin America at Morgan Stanley, 'If you believe in China, you believe in Brazil. That counted for a lot.

(iii) "one reason that Mexico has captured market share from China is the narrowing gap between Chinese and Mexican wages.

(b) Monterrey
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monterrey
(c) Nuevo Laredo
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuevo_Laredo

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(a) The report observes, "Last year, Mexico’s economy grew faster than Brazil’s, and it looks set to outpace its larger Latin rival again in 2012."

............GDP (nominal)1......GDP (PPP)2....GDP (nominal) per capita3....GDP (PPP) per capita4...Population5
Brazil......$2.49 trillion......2.29t.........12,789.......................11,769..................192 million
Mexico......1.15t...............1.66t.........10,153.......................14,610..................112m

The first four Wiki pages below are based on International Monetary Fund 2011.
1 list of countries by GDP (nominal)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_GDP_(nominal)
2 list of countries by GDP (PPP)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_GDP_(PPP)
3 list of countries by GDP (nominal) per capita
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_GDP_(nominal)_per_capita
4 list of countries by GDP (PPP) per capita
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_GDP_(PPP)_per_capita
5 list of countries by population
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_population
(the most recent estimate or projection by the national census authority)

(b) The report says "Brazil’s homicide rate trumps Mexico’s."

list of countries by intentional homicide rate
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lis ... ional_homicide_rate
(In 2010 per 100,000 inhabitants: Brazil 26, Mexico 18, Taiwan 3.2, United States 4.8)

(i) The Wiki page indicates statistics are from each country, in its own language (eg, Portugese for Brazil and Spanish for Mexico).
(ii) The Wiki page does not have 2011 data for Brazil or Mexico--or China in any listed year.