Under New Management: The Mexico-U.S. Business Committee and Elite Politics duringthe de la Madrid Sexenio, 1982-198

During the final quarter of the 20th century, the policy regime governing economic activity inMexico changed dramatically. In response to inflationary policies and unsustainable foreignlending, policymakers enacted a series of reforms to ‘neoliberalize’ the country. The sharpnessof the economic transition and the idiosyncrasies of Mexico’s political model ensure that thisperiod has attracted considerable scholarly attention. Academics have put forth various narrativesto explain the direction and character of Mexico’s reforms. However, the role played by thebusiness sector in reform remains understudied. This thesis asks how the Mexico-U.S. BusinessCommittee, a binational forum for businesspeople, influenced the formation of policy in Mexicoduring the 1980s. Using a mix of archival documents and oral history interviews, it seeks touncover the ways in which Committee members laid the groundwork for greater tradeliberalization between Mexico and the United States.