State-Owned Enterprises—Lesson Plan
Student Outcomes
At the conclusion of this lesson, students will be able to:
•
Define state-owned enterprise.
•
Provide a basic historical summary of global nationalization and privatization trends.
•
List at least three reasons to support and three reasons to oppose government ownership of
businesses in key economic industries.
•
Differentiate between a state-owned enterprise, a private enterprise, and a government
agency.
•
Explain why a person’s beliefs about the role of the government might affect how they feel
about state-owned enterprises.
•
Identify areas of agreement and disagreement with other students.
•
Reach a decision, individually and collectively, on the deliberation issue using evidence and
sound reasoning.
•
Explain the importance of deliberating this question in a democratic society.
Question for Deliberation
Should our democracy own and manage companies in key industries?
Topic Materials
•
Reading
•
Glossary—Supplemental Handout
•
Quotations—Supplemental Handout
•
Survey—Supplemental Handout
•
Selected Resources
Deliberation Materials
•
Deliberation Procedures
•
Handout 1—Deliberation Guide
•
Handout 2—Deliberation Notes
•
Handout 3—Deliberation Reflection
© 2011 Deliberating in a Democracy in the Americas, a joint initiative of the Constitutional Rights Foundation Chicago, Constitutional
Rights Foundation, and Street Law, Inc. Reproduction permitted for educational use only. Reproduction or redistribution for sale are
expressly prohibited.
State-Owned Enterprises—Reading
Should our democracy own and manage companies in key industries?
1
When Robert from California puts gasoline in his car, he pays almost five U.S. dollars per
2
gallon. When Ana from Venezuela fills up, she pays only around 18 U.S. cents per gallon. Why
3
is there such a big difference in gasoline prices in these two countries? The answer may lie in
4
who owns and manages the oil companies.1
5
In the United States, private companies—such as Chevron, British Petroleum (BP),
6
ExxonMobil, and Shell – supply much of the nation’s gas. Private companies exist to make a
7
profit. They do so by selling gas at a higher price than the cost to produce it. In Venezuela, a
8
government-owned company called Petróleos de Venezuela, S.A. (PDVSA) dominates the
9
country’s oil industry. Since the government owns the company, it can decide to provide gas to
10
its citizens at a discount. The revenue of PDVSA also helps pay for everything from sports teams
11
to health clinics and home building.
12
The economies of most modern democracies depend on private companies. These companies
13
compete against each other in a regulated free market. Many economists believe that
14
competition keeps the quality of goods and services high. It also keeps costs down for
15
consumers. The government plays a very limited role in this system. However, there are key
16
industries that some governments consider too important for private control. Governments
17
sometimes decide to own and operate the companies in these industries. These companies are
18
called state-owned enterprises (SOEs).
© 2012 Deliberating in a Democracy in the Americas, a joint initiative of the
Constitutional Rights Foundation Chicago, Constitutional Rights Foundation, and Street
Law, Inc. Reproduction permitted for educational use only. Reproduction or
redistribution for sale are expressly prohibited.
19
SOEs are different from government agencies. Government agencies are funded by general
20
revenues and do not exist to seek financial gain. SOEs, on the other hand, are businesses that
21
seek to maximize profits. They generate most of their revenue from selling goods and services.2
22
State-Owned Enterprises
23
When governments take control of key industries, it is called nationalization. When
24
governments give up control of those industries, it is called privatization. In the last 30 years, the
25
pendulum between nationalization and privatization has swung back and forth several times.
26
Governments often nationalize industries that involve natural resources. These include oil,
27
mining, and water. Governments consider oil to be a very important natural resource. By
28
nationalizing oil, they can keep private companies from gaining too much control.3 Today,
29
companies owned or managed by national governments control over 75 percent of the world’s oil
30
production. Private companies only account for about 10 percent of total production.4
31
Governments also nationalize industries that its citizens depend on. These include services
32
such as electricity, telecommunications, and road construction. It is also common for
33
governments to nationalize other services. These include banking, postal services, and
34
aerospace.5 This gives governments more control over how companies deliver important public
35
services.
36
Prior to the 1990s, SOEs were common around the world. Governments often created SOEs
37
to help their countries industrialize. They used them to increase employment levels. Sometimes
38
governments took over key industries simply to build national pride.
39
In the early 1990s, however, many economists started to think that SOEs were causing
40
financial trouble in many countries.6 They also noted that many SOEs were inefficient or poorly
© 2012 Deliberating in a Democracy in the Americas
2
41
run. They were not providing quality public services. Many countries had power blackouts,
42
outdated sewage systems, and poor road networks.7
43
As a result, Washington-based lenders such as The World Bank forced governments to
44
privatize SOEs in order to borrow money. This requirement was part of a series of economic
45
reforms known as the Washington Consensus. At the time, many developing countries
46
desperately needed loans. They were the only way to keep their countries from falling into
47
economic crisis. They had no choice but to privatize their SOEs. Many SOEs disappeared during
48
this time.
49
Since 2000, however, many countries have re-nationalized industries. This is partly due to
50
the global economic crisis. From 2004 through 2009, the Forbes List of the world’s largest
51
companies added 120 SOEs. During that same period, 250 private companies fell off the list.8
52
SOEs in Latin America
53
Citizens of the Americas have different ideas about whether SOEs are a good idea. A 2009
54
survey by the Latin American Public Opinion Project shows an interesting contrast. People from
55
countries that privatized SOEs in the 1990s now support more government ownership. On the
56
other hand, people from countries that maintained a many SOEs now want to privatize them.9
57
Most Latin American countries nationalize industries for one main reason. It gives the
58
government the power to decide how to use the country’s natural resources.10 For example,
59
Mexico nationalized its oil industry in 1938. By nationalizing the oil industry, the Mexican
60
government protected one of its most important resources from foreign companies. Mexico’s
61
national oil company, Petróleos Mexicanos (PEMEX), is now one of the largest in the world. Its
62
revenues fund around 1/3 of Mexico’s federal budget. 11 If the government privatized the oil
63
industry, it would lose this revenue.
© 2012 Deliberating in a Democracy in the Americas
3
64
Many economies in Latin America were struggling in the early 1990s. They had no choice
65
but to privatize their SOEs to borrow money from The World Bank. Before the Washington
66
Consensus, the government of Peru controlled more than 250 SOEs. By the end of the 90s,
67
President Alberto Fujimori had privatized almost all of them.12
68
Since the start of the new millennium, many Latin American governments have re-
69
nationalized at least one key industry. Today, 36 SOEs are operating again in Peru.13 Argentina,
70
Bolivia, Ecuador, and Venezuela have also re-nationalized industries from mining to oil.14
71
SOEs in the United States of America
72
The United States of America has long preferred a limited role of the government in the
73
economy.15 In spite of low support for SOEs in the United States, it has a few of them. However,
74
U.S. SOEs tend to be more independent from the government than SOEs in other countries. For
75
example, a private company owns and operates Amtrak, the United States’ only intercity
76
passenger rail service. However, Amtrak does not make enough revenue to continue operating on
77
its own. Therefore, it relies on the federal government to provide it with additional funds. 16
78
Another example is the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA). During the Great Depression,
79
U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt asked Congress to create “a corporation clothed with the
80
power of government but possessed of the flexibility and initiative of a private enterprise.” The
81
U.S. Congress established the TVA in 1933. Its primary purpose was to provide affordable
82
electricity to people in areas greatly affected by economic hardship. Today, the TVA is the
83
biggest power provider in the United States. It is still a corporation of the government. However,
84
it now makes enough money to finance itself without government help.17
85
86
The Great Depression was a rare time in U.S. history. Public support for government
ownership of utilities actually increased. At the time, many citizens felt that private companies
© 2012 Deliberating in a Democracy in the Americas
4
87
were taking advantage of consumers. Today, some U.S. citizens question whether private
88
companies should own businesses that the government has deemed “too big to fail.” In spite of
89
these feelings, the vast majority of people are still wary of government control of any industry.18
Arguments For and Against Government Ownership and Management of
90
91
Companies in Key Industries
92
•
Supporters of SOEs claim that they protect citizens as well as national sovereignty. They
93
assert that private companies only have their own self-interest in mind. In 2007, for example,
94
Ecuador’s government accused the foreign oil company Texaco of illegal drilling practices.
95
They said Texaco caused severe environmental and health problems in the Amazon
96
rainforest. The government took control of the company so it could better regulate the use of
97
the country’s natural resources.
98
•
99
Supporters also argue that with state-owned enterprises, governments can provide economic
protections to citizens. Supporters point out that private companies sell their goods and
100
services to whoever pays the best price. Sometimes, consumers in other countries pay better
101
prices. So, citizens might not be able to buy things made in their own country. With SOEs,
102
governments can set prices that favor their own citizens.19 In addition, supporters note that
103
SOEs allow governments to invest revenues from public companies into social programs and
104
into building wealth for the whole country.
105
•
Supporters also claim that SOEs ensure the long-term stability of the overall economy.
106
Governments can use SOEs to create new jobs. They can keep key industries afloat during
107
economic downturns. In addition, they can help national companies compete better with big
108
multinational companies. For instance, the Brazilian government has provided incentives,
© 2012 Deliberating in a Democracy in the Americas
5
109
loans, and subsidies to SOEs. These advantages have helped these companies compete with
110
their rivals in the United States and Europe. 20
111
•
People who oppose SOEs claim they cause inefficiency and stifle innovation. They argue that
112
SOEs have little competition. Therefore, they have no reason to modernize or reduce waste.21
113
Opponents point out that SOEs often have more employees on staff than they need. They also
114
pay them more than private companies. In addition, SOEs often hire bureaucrats instead of
115
technical experts. As a result, opponents argue that the goods and services produced by SOEs
116
are often lower quality than those produced by private companies. They say government
117
owned companies often lose more money than they make. If SOEs did not have the backing
118
of the government, they could not keep their doors open.
119
•
Opponents also claim that SOEs foster political corruption. They believe SOEs give political
120
officials the power to use the nation’s resources in whatever way they want. It does not
121
matter if that way is not in the best interest of the economy or the people.22 For example, the
122
Chinese government created a company to build the Three Gorges Dam. It will be the largest
123
hydroelectric dam in the world. However, the Dam has displaced over 1 million people. It
124
has also caused major environmental damage. Opponents believe the government sacrificed
125
the well-being of citizens and the environment for temporary economic gain.23 Opponents
126
claim that SOEs make it easy for a government to abuse its power, which is undemocratic.
127
•
According to opponents, SOEs also suppress economic growth. They say government owned
128
companies have unfair advantages over private companies. For example, governments often
129
provide SOEs with special tax breaks. They can also borrow money at lower rates. In some
130
cases, they do not have to meet government regulations. Opponents claim these advantages
131
make competition by private companies difficult or impossible.24 This discourages private
© 2012 Deliberating in a Democracy in the Americas
6
132
companies from investing in the country. Without new investment, the economy cannot
133
grow.
134
135
How much of a role should the government play in the economy? Every democracy must
answer this question.
© 2012 Deliberating in a Democracy in the Americas
7
1
Gupta, Girish, Leigh Montgomery, and Michail Vafeiadis, “World’s Cheapest Gas: Top 10 Countries,”
The Christian Science Monitor (February 29, 2012),
http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Americas/2011/0913/World-s-cheapest-gas-Top-10-countries/Bahrain0.78-per-gallon-0.21-per-liter (accessed November 19, 2012).
2
Haggarty, Luke and Mary M. Shirley, “A New Data Base on State-Owned Enterprises,” The World
Bank Economic Review, Vol. 11, No. 3: 491–513.
3
Rampell, Catherine, “When Governments Take Over Industries in Trouble,” The New York Times,
(January 22, 2009), http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/22/business/worldbusiness/22poundbox.html
(accessed August 21, 2012).
4
Bremmer, Ian, “The Long Shadow of the Visible Hand: Government-owned firms control most of the
world’s oil reserves,” The Wall Street Journal (May 22, 2010),
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704852004575258541875590852.html (accessed
October 9, 2012).
5
Baumol, William J., “Toward a Theory of Public Enterprise,” Atlantic Economic Journal, (1984), Vol.
12, Issue 1: 3-20.
6
Musacchio, Aldo and Francisco Flores-Macias, “The Return of State-Owned Enterprises: Should we be
afraid?”, Harvard International Review (April 4, 2009), http://hir.harvard.edu/the-return-of-state-ownedenterprises (accessed November 28, 2012).
7
Everding, Gerry, “Chavez’s Nationalization of Foreign-Owned Industries is Part of Global Pattern.”
Newsroom (Washington University in St. Louis, February 9, 2007),
http://news.wustl.edu/news/Pages/8723.aspx (accessed August 21, 2012).
8
Kurlantzick, Joshua, “The Rise of Innovative State Capitalism,” Bloomberg Businessweek (June 28,
2012), http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2012-06-28/the-rise-of-innovative-state-capitalism
(accessed October 19, 2012).
9
Corral, Margarita, “Should Government Own Big Business and Industries? Views from the Americas.”
AmericasBarometer Insights: 2009 (No. 8), (accessed October 10, 2012).
10
Rampell, Catherine (2009).
11
Eulich, Whitney and Sara Miller Llana, “Brazil, Venezuela, and Mexico: Three ways to nationalize
oil.” The Christian Science Monitor (May 12, 2012),
http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Americas/2012/0512/Brazil-Venezuela-and-Mexico-three-ways-tonationalize-oil (accessed November 7, 2012).
12
Inter-American Dialogue, “Peru Energy: Greater State Role?” Latin Business Chronicle (September
12, 2011), http://www.latinbusinesschronicle.com/app/article.aspx?id=5110 (accessed October 19, 2012).
13
Inter-American Dialogue (2011).
14
Bremmer, Ian (2010).
15
Corral, Margarita (2009).
16
Congressional Budget Office, “The Past and Future of U.S. Passenger Rail Service,” (September 2003),
http://www.cbo.gov/sites/default/files/cbofiles/ftpdocs/45xx/doc4571/09-26-passengerrail.pdf (accessed
November 28, 2012).
© 2012 Deliberating in a Democracy in the Americas
8
17
Tennessee Valley Authority Website, “From the New Deal to a New Century,”
http://www.tva.gov/abouttva/history.htm (accessed November 28, 2012).
18
Corral, Margarita (2009).
19
“Estado debe garantizar promoción de empresas públicas estratégicas,” Con Nuestro Peru (April 10,
2010).
20
Kurlantzick, Joshua (2012).
21
“Mixed Bag: SOEs are good at infrastructure projects, not so good at innovation,” The Economist
(January 21, 2012), http://www.economist.com/node/21542929 (accessed November 7, 2012).
22
Bremmer, Ian (2010).
23
Hvistendahl, Mara, “China’s Three Gorges Dam: An Environmental Catastrophe,” The Scientific
American (March 25, 2008), http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=chinas-three-gorges-damdisaster (accessed November 27, 2012).
24
Bremmer, Ian (2010).
© 2012 Deliberating in a Democracy in the Americas
9
State-Owned Enterprises—Glossary
Bureaucrats: Employees who help administer government programs.
Great Depression: A period during the 1930s when there was worldwide economic hardship and
mass unemployment.
Key industries: Types of businesses that a government determines to be very important to the
economy or national security.
Nationalization: The process of a government taking ownership and management of a private
company.
National sovereignty: The right of a country to make its own decisions.
Privatization: The process of turning ownership and management of a government company
over to a private company.
Regulated free market: An enterprise system dominated by private companies in which the
price of a good or service is mostly determined by supply and demand. However, the
government sometimes artificially affects supply and demand through regulatory policy.
State-owned enterprise (SOE): A business owned or managed by a national government.
Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA): A corporation owned by the U.S. Government that was
created to provide economic development in the Tennessee Valley, an area hit hard by the Great
Depression.
Washington Consensus: A term used to describe a set of economic reforms prescribed by
Washington, D.C.- based financial institution, such as the International Monetary Fund (IMF)
and the World Bank, for developing countries experiencing economic crises in the 1990s.
© 2011 Deliberating in a Democracy in the Americas, a joint initiative of the Constitutional Rights Foundation Chicago, Constitutional
Rights Foundation, and Street Law, Inc. Reproduction permitted for educational use only. Reproduction or redistribution for sale are
expressly prohibited.
State-Owned Enterprises—Quotations
“Take over oil and gas and the government increases its immediate take. Take over electricity
and water and lower the bill. These firms, even if well-behaved, offer appealing targets for
opportunistic politicians.”
~Nathan M. Jensen, U.S. political scientist (2007)
Everding, Gerry, “Chavez’s Nationalization of Foreign-Owned Industries is Part of Global Pattern.” Newsroom
(Washington University in St. Louis, February 9, 2007), http://news.wustl.edu/news/Pages/8723.aspx (accessed
August 21, 2012).
“Privatization is a neoliberal and imperialist plan. Health can’t be privatized because it is a
fundamental human right, nor can education, water, electricity and other public services. They
can’t be surrendered to private capital that denies the people from their rights.”
~Hugo Chavez, President of Venezuela (2005)
Soto, Cleto A., “Venezuela’s Chavez Closes World Social Forum with Call to Transcend Capitalism,”
Venezuealanalysis.com (January 31, 2005), http://venezuelanalysis.com/news/907 (accessed November 30, 2012).
“The money from privatization could not be better spent; we invest it in peace, progress and the
future of Peru. I hope that by 2006 there are no more broken public enterprises left to privatize.”
~Alberto Fujimori, President of Peru between 1990 and 2000
“Privatizaciones. La economía se volvió grande y ajena,” Revista “Bajo la lupa,”
http://www.bajolalupa.org/04/07_tex.html (accessed November 14, 2012).
“[Petróleros Mexicanos (PEMEX)] is a combination of an oil company and a bureaucracy.”
~Raul Muñoz Leos, former director of Petróleros Mexicanos
Weiner, Tim, “As National Oil Giant Struggles, Mexico Agonizes Over Opening It to Foreign Ventures,” The New
York Times (February 17, 2002), http://www.nytimes.com/2002/02/17/world/national-oil-giant-struggles-mexicoagonizes-over-opening-it-foreign-ventures.html?pagewanted=all&src=pm (accessed November 30, 2012).
“We are the only country in [the Americas], and nearly the world, that doesn’t control its own
natural resources… This is the recuperation of the sovereignty of Argentina’s natural resources.”
~Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, President of Argentina (2012), after nationalizing the
privately run oil company Repsol
Gilbert, Jonathan, “The next Venezuela? Argentina to nationalize oil company,” The Christian Science Monitor
(April 17, 2012), http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Americas/2012/0417/The-next-Venezuela-Argentina-tonationalize-oil-company (accessed November 30, 2012).
© 2011 Deliberating in a Democracy in the Americas, a joint initiative of the Constitutional Rights Foundation Chicago, Constitutional
Rights Foundation, and Street Law, Inc. Reproduction permitted for educational use only. Reproduction or redistribution for sale are
expressly prohibited.
“Though fewer in number, today’s SOEs are more powerful than ever. One reason is that they
can be vast and so their market power is often greater in a given industry. Their shrinking
number is the result of a concerted effort to consolidate disparate SOEs into national champions
in a range of ‘strategic industries’, which range from telecoms to shipbuilding.”
~The Economist (2012)
“The State Advances: The state’s grip on the economy has been tightening. Could foreign
pressure persuade the new leadership to reverse course?” The Economist, (October 6, 2012),
http://www.economist.com/node/21564274 (accessed November 30, 2012).
“China’s strong economic rebound, America’s high unemployment and financial volatility in
Europe have all cast doubts on the free-market model.”
~Ian Bremmer, U.S. Political Scientist (2010)
Bremmer, Ian, “The Long Shadow of the Visible Hand: Government-owned firms control most of the world’s oil
reserves,” The Wall Street Journal (May 22, 2010),
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704852004575258541875590852.html (accessed October 9, 2012).
"Here [in Colombia] we're not going to expropriate…We don't do that…When [private]
investors come here, I tell them: Welcome, you are our partners and if you do well, we do well."
~Juan Manuel Santos, President of Colombia (2012)
Molinski, Dan, “Colombian President Assures Investors: 'We Don't Expropriate' Foreign Companies” Dow Jones
Newswires (April 18, 2012), http://www.4-traders.com/YPF-SA-9908956/news/Colombian-President-AssuresInvestors-We-Don-t-Expropriate-Foreign-Companies-14280235/ (accessed November 30, 2012).
“The debate over the strategic nature of certain economic activities has in the background the
debate over the role the state should play in the economy: 1. the desirability of government
intervention to prevent the bankruptcy of private firms deemed "strategic"; and 2. the existence
of strategic sectors: whether they should or should not be owned by the state.”
~Farid Kahhat, Peruvian Political Scientist (2011)
Farid Kahhat, “¿Porque causa controversia llamar a ciertos sectores ‘estratégicos’?” América Economía (2011),
http://www.americaeconomia.com/analisis-opinion/por-que-causa-controversia-llamar-ciertos-sectores-estrategicos
(accessed November 14, 2012).
© 2011 Deliberating in a Democracy in the Americas
2
State-Owned Enterprises—Survey Activity
How does your group feel about government ownership of key industries?
The Latin American Public Opinion Project surveyors asked this question to determine the
average support for government ownership of key enterprises in the Americas:
The government, instead of the private sector, should own the most important businesses
and industries of the country. To what extent do you agree or disagree with his statement?
The results of this survey showed that there is no consensus in the Americas on the proper role of
the government as owner of key enterprises (see chart). Some countries heavily support the idea
of government ownership. Others show little support for government ownership.
Instructions:
Ask each person in your group to answer the question above and rank their responses based on
the following scale.
Strongly Disagree
Strongly Agree
1__________2___________3___________4____________5___________6___________7
Ask the question once before the deliberation and once after the deliberation. This will help you
determine if the deliberation helped change people’s minds about this topic.
This activity was adapted from Corral, Margarita, “Should Government Own Big Businesses and
Industries? Views from the Americas,” Americas Barometer Insights: 2009 (No. 8) ©Latin American
Public Opinion Project, Insights” series, www. AmericasBarometer.org.
State-Owned Enterprises—Selected Resources
Associated Press, “Ecuador president imposes oil nationalization law,” Bloomberg Business
Week (July 24, 2010), http://www.businessweek.com/ap/financialnews/D9H5LVA00.htm
(accessed November 9, 2012).
Corral, Margarita, “Should Government Own Big Business and Industries? Views from the
Americas.” AmericasBarometer Insights: 2009 (No. 8), (accessed October 10, 2012).
Emery, Alex and John Quigley, “Peru’s Humala Says He Won’t Nationalize Gas Industry After
Win,” Bloomberg (June 9, 2011), http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-06-09/peru-shumala-says-he-won-t-nationalize-natural-gas-industry.html (accesseed August 8, 2012).
Gupta, Girish, Leigh Montgomery, and Michail Vafeiadis, “World’s Cheapest Gas: Top 10
Countries,” The Christian Science Monitor (February 29, 2012),
http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Americas/2011/0913/World-s-cheapest-gas-Top-10countries/Bahrain-0.78-per-gallon-0.21-per-liter (accessed November 19, 2012).
Kahhat, Farid, “¿Por qué causa controversia llamar a ciertos sectores ‘estratégicos’?” América
Economia (November 29, 2011), http://www.americaeconomia.com/analisis-opinion/porque-causa-controversia-llamar-ciertos-sectores-estrategicos (accessed October 9, 2012).
Kraus, Clifford and Simon Romero, “In Ecuador, Resentment of an Oil Company Oozes,” The
New York Times (May 14, 2009),
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/15/business/global/15chevron.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0
(accessed November 9, 2012).
“Mixed Bag: SOEs are good at infrastructure projects, not so good at innovation,” The
Economist (January 21, 2012), http://www.economist.com/node/21542929 (accessed
November 7, 2012).
Musacchio, Aldo and Francisco Flores-Macias, “The Return of State-Owned Enterprises: Should
we be afraid?” Harvard International Review (April 4, 2009), http://hir.harvard.edu/thereturn-of-state-owned-enterprises (accessed November 28, 2012).
Stanislaw, Joseph and Daniel Yergen, “Commanding Heights: The Battle for the World
Economy,” (Simon & Schuster, Inc., New York, NY, 1998).
“The ‘State is back’ in Latinamerica to lessen inequalities, says top UN official,” MercoPress
(October 17, 2012), http://en.mercopress.com/2012/10/17/the-state-is-back-in-latinamericato-lessen-inequalities-says-top-un-official (accessed November 30, 2012).
Weiner, Tim, “As National Oil Giant Struggles, Mexico Agonizes Over Opening It to Foreign
Ventures,” The New York Times (February 17, 2002),
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/02/17/world/national-oil-giant-struggles-mexico-agonizesover-opening-it-foreign-ventures.html?pagewanted=all&src=pm (accessed November 30,
2012).
© 2012 Deliberating in a Democracy in the Americas, a joint initiative of the Constitutional Rights Foundation Chicago, Constitutional
Rights Foundation, and Street Law, Inc. Reproduction permitted for educational use only. Reproduction or redistribution for sale are
expressly prohibited.