Research Scholar, Center for the U.S. and Mexico

Ivonne Cruz, Ph.D., is a research scholar at the Center for the U.S. and Mexico. She is also a faculty member of the Masters…

Research Scholar

José Iván Rodríguez-Sánchez

José Iván Rodríguez-Sánchez, Ph.D., is a research scholar for the Baker Institute Center for the U.S. and Mexico. His…

Nonresident Scholar

Richard J. Kilroy, Jr.

Richard J. Kilroy Jr., Ph.D., is a nonresident scholar in the Baker Institute Center for the U.S. and Mexico. He is a…

Françoise and Edward Djerejian Fellow for Mexico Studies | Director, Center for the U.S. and Mexico

Tony Payan

Tony Payan, Ph.D., is the Françoise and Edward Djerejian Fellow for Mexico Studies and the executive director of the Center…

Maggie Smith

Biography

Maggie Smith is the events specialist at the Baker Institute, where she works with the institute’s administrative and research staff to prepare for events involving speakers, members, and guests. She regularly interacts with Baker Roundtable members and assists guest speakers with logistical arrangements. Smith organizes events for the Baker Institute Student Forum and typically coordinates departmental interns.

She holds a Bachelor of Arts in English with a concentration in culture and social change from Rice University.

Center for Health and Biosciences | U.S. Health System Transformation | Podcast

Baker Briefing: Translating Texas’ Health Care Spending Into Better Outcomes

Texas spends nearly $50 billion a year on health care yet lags far behind other states on key health outcomes. Elena M…

October 14, 2024

Mexico Country Outlook

Mexico Country Outlook 2025 Conference

Thursday, Dec. 5, 2024 | @ Rice University’s Baker Institute

As Mexico transitions to a new administration under Claudia Sheinbaum, it faces significant policy challenges impacting both its internal stability and relations with the United States — a relationship that will be heavily shaped by the results of the U.S. presidential election in November 2024.

The Baker Institute Center for the U.S. and Mexico will explore these challenges at the sixth annual Mexico Country Outlook on Dec. 5, 2024. This year’s conference program will feature keynote remarks from Luis de la Calle, director general and founding partner of De la Calle Madrazo Mancera and former undersecretary of International Business Negotiations in Mexico’s Ministry of Economy.

A full agenda and list of speakers is available here. Conference attendees will receive early access to the Mexico Country Outlook 2025 report.

Registration

Individual Tickets

General admission is $250.

Register

U.S.-Mexico Forum members receive free admission through the link in their email invitation. Baker Roundtable members and students in Rice’s Master of Global Affairs and Master of Business Administration programs receive discounted admission of $150.

To discuss how to become a U.S.-Mexico Forum member, contact Lisa Guáqueta, program manager, at lguaqueta@rice.edu or 713-348-2649. Contact the Baker Institute Development team at roundtable@rice.edu for more information on the benefits of joining the Baker Roundtable.

Sponsorships

Details on sponsorship levels and benefits are available here. Contact Lisa Guáqueta at lguaqueta@rice.edu or 713-348-2649 become a sponsor. The last day to purchase a table is Nov. 5, 2024.

Become a sponsor

About the Mexico Country Outlook

The Mexico Country Outlook is an annual conference and report designed to unpack the major policy issues facing Mexico in the year ahead. Presented by the Baker Institute Center for the U.S. and Mexico, it provides a strategic edge to investors, businesses, and policymakers as they navigate Mexico’s complex, ever-evolving political and regulatory landscape.

Each year, the conference brings together influential leaders and top thinkers from industry, government, and academia to contribute valuable insights and dive deep into Mexico’s politics, economy, border issues, energy affairs, and more. Audiences include business leaders, policymakers, academics, and students who are passionate about Mexican public policy issues and U.S.-Mexico relations — presenting a rich opportunity to expand networks, exchange diverse perspectives, and remain ahead of the curve.

The annual conference features:

Keynotes from renowned Mexican and U.S. thought leaders.
Insights on key Mexican policy issues and drivers shaping business environments.
Exclusive early access to the annual Mexico Country Outlook report.

Past Reports

Mexico Country Outlook 2024

The 2024 report analyzed key policy issues and various electoral scenarios ahead of the June 2024 elections. Experts from the Center for the U.S. and Mexico forecast that migration and organized crime would continue to be major points of tension for U.S.-Mexico relations, particularly ahead of the elections on both sides of the border, and predicted that high levels of violence, weak infrastructure, and an uncertain political and regulatory environment would pose significant challenges for industry and foreign investment despite promising nearshoring opportunities and incentives.

Read the report

Mexico Country Outlook 2023

Drawing on decades of study and analysis of Mexico, experts from the Center for the U.S. and Mexico made several key conclusions for 2023. They forecasted that projects pushed by President Andrés Manuel López Obrador and a possible U.S. recession would slow Mexican economic growth, that conflict between organized crime groups would escalate, and that the U.S. would continue to pressure Mexico on full implementation of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), immigration, and drug smuggling.

Read the report

More Past Reports

Mexico Country Outlook 2022

Center experts predicted that three major issues would dominate Mexico’s economy, politics, and relationship with the United States in 2022. They forecasted that President Andrés Manuel López Obrador would continue to exert power in an increasingly autocratic fashion, creating uncertainty in the country’s business environment; that MORENA’s losses in the June 2021 midterms would lead López Obrador to try to dismantle Mexico’s electoral system; and that U.S. President Joe Biden would increase pressure on Mexico to collaborate on key binational policy issues.

Read the report

Mexico Country Outlook 2021

Four factors were likely to drive Mexico’s outlook for 2021, Baker Institute experts found. These included increasingly centralized executive power and a weakened system of checks and balances; the economic shock and public health repercussions of the COVID-19 pandemic; the country’s June 2021 midterm elections; and the 2020 U.S. presidential election loss of Donald Trump, who had been a key pillar of support for President Andrés Manuel López Obrador.

Read the report

Mexico Country Outlook 2020

In the inaugural Mexico Country Outlook report, experts from the Center for the U.S. and Mexico analyzed the influence of Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador on Mexico’s political, economic, regulatory, social, and security environment. Elected in December 2018, López Obrador’s political and policy preferences profoundly affected not only the country’s present, but its long-term future.

Read the report