Had it not been for the world economic crisis, or if it ends up being short and shallow, many observers, including me, remain convinced that Mexico can continue to muddle through, as it has done since 1996. These past 13 years have been fair-to-middling for the country: mediocre economic growth, but no collapse; democratic rotation in power, with no uprisings or massacres; a slow but steady expansion of the middle class; and a slow but steady drop in corruption.
如果不是因为全球经济危机，或者如果危机持续时间很短，而且影响层面很浅，包括我在内的许多观察人士，仍然会深信墨西哥可以继续胡乱应付过去，就像它从1996年以来一直做的那样。过去13年对墨西哥来说马马虎虎：普普通通的经济增长，没有发生经济崩溃；权力的民主交替，没有起义或屠杀；中产阶级缓慢但稳定的增加；以及腐败缓慢而稳定的减少。