MEXICO: Toward the Perfect State

The Mexican government, which has traditionally operated in the red, ended its last fiscal year with a $14,000,000 surplus. “It was simple,” explained Treasury Minister Ramón Beteta last week. “We tried to get more money into the treasury and see that less money was wasted.” Beteta was particularly successful in cutting down income-tax evasion. He promised his countrymen absolution from past sins if they would pay up present taxes; then he got a law passed threatening them with jail if they did not go straight in the future. The carrot-and-stick technique worked fine, but Beteta is still not satisfied. “We have not caught up with the U.S.,” he sighed. “There, you may not be able to put a gangster in jail for murder, but you can always get him for tax evasion. For a finance minister, that is the perfect state.”