An unsavory aspect of the bilateral relationship...

"If you wanted to create a system that is basically legal but designed to facilitate gun trafficking, you couldn't have a better system than you have here."
- TOM DIAZ, a researcher with the Violence Project in Washington, on the flow of guns from the United States to Mexican drug cartels. (from the New York Times, April 15, 2009)

Legacy assets and accounting for distress sales...

While it might be true that a rose by any other name smells as sweet, re-naming toxic assets "legacy assets" and changing the accounting treatment for sales of distressed assets seems to have changed the direction of stock markets.

Today, the same day FASB announced three changes in the rules governing how banks account for the value of mortgage securities on their books, the US and Mexican markets rose for the third consecutive day. The changes, which give banks greater discretion in reporting the value of mortgage assets, essentially allow management to value the assets at more than markets are willing to pay.

The IMF brandishes new tools too...

Today, eight days after the IMF approved its new, condition-free loan facility, the Flexible Credit Line, Mexico announced that it will ask the IMF for a US$47 million line of credit, the maximum for which the country is elegible. The renewable credit line, which Mexico can draw on or not as it chooses, has a one year term.

The purpose of the line, equal to 59.5% of Mexico's reserves as of March 27, is to reassure markets that Mexico has plenty of reserves with which to meet its foreign debt obligations.