nafta should also be understood as a production sharing agreement, helping north america remain competitive against fierce global competition. but for all of nafta ’ s benefits, greater economic integration has also brought about uneasiness. it has meant rapid change. it has also meant an uneven distribution of the gains. this transition to a more efficient allocation of resources has not come without costs, and the burden of adjustment has fallen on certain sectors and types of employment in all three countries. also, in this same period new technology has made many jobs obsolete. moreover, the complementary policies that were intended to cushion the effects on workers have not always worked as they were intended. nafta is a good policy. but it is subject to improvement. it is fair to say that, to some extent, policymakers have neglected its downsides for too many years. we took its early successes for granted. we have also neglected to extoll, explain, and communicate, its very real and very substantial net benefits. this has led to a growing resentment against nafta in some pockets of the population and the idea that reversing the integration of the region could somehow improve things for those who have found their world changed for the worse — whether by nafta or by other factors, such as technological change. the truth is, to turn our backs on the economic integration of north america — of canada, the united states, and mexico — would be extremely costly for all concerned. in nafta what we have is a framework for mutual cooperation. what i want to say is, it is important not to forget the need to work with other countries, to improve the value of our relationships with each other. and in nafta, this framework for mutual cooperation that we have, can be made better. it is my hope that in all three countries policymakers can modify, can modernize our north american free trade agreement so that its benefits are preserved and enhanced, and more people in the region can benefit. north america can be converted into the most resilient and prosperous region in the world. we have what is needed to achieve that, but we need to work together to accomplish it. many of you will be, or will influence, the policymakers attending to these issues. remember, the house has a good foundation. let ’ s give it the maintenance and adjustment it deserves. second : the global financial crisis in the 1980s the united states and advanced economies in general entered into a period

monetary union that have complicated dealing with the aftermath of national financial crises. progress in revamping the emu architecture, bailout programs for troubled economies and, especially, decisive measures undertaken by the ecb have lowered perceived risk for sovereign and bank debt, especially in the peripheral countries. although further meaningful structural measures will be required to attain a full economic recovery, the financial stabilization achieved may suggest that the worst of the crisis is over in the euro area. consistently, the most recent consensus estimates for 2013 and 2014 posit a gradual recovery for the world economy, moderate deceleration followed by higher growth in the united states, and a slight contraction and later an expansion in the eurozone. 1 see consensus economics ( 2013 ), consensus forecasts, february. bis central bankers ’ speeches in spite of this challenging environment, last year mexican economic activity continued to exhibit a positive trend, with a firmer expansion in services than in industry. in the fourth quarter, annual growth was the same as in the previous quarter, although both figures were not as high as in the first half of the year. annual gdp growth for the full year was 3. 9 percent, virtually the same as in 2011 ; this growth is noteworthy, especially in the present world context, as it is almost one percentage point higher than mexico ’ s average growth rate during the twenty years prior to the crisis. on the back of this progress, external demand, as reflected prominently in manufacturing exports, has shown some moderation in growth in the past several months, with a recovery in the most recent quarter. by far, the main source of deceleration came from countries other than the united states, and in particular in automotive exports. this slowdown is partly explained by restrictions imposed by brazil and argentina on auto imports from mexico. at the same time, domestic demand continued expanding. private consumption, the largest component of domestic spending, maintained its momentum, as indicated by available data on retail sales up to november. the strength of consumption has been supported by a sustained increase in formal employment, a moderate decline in unemployment, and a significant expansion in consumer lending. gross fixed investment kept rising, with machinery and equipment showing higher growth rates than construction. additionally, measures of business confidence up to january 2013, such as the manufacturing orders indicator ( ipm ), reveal that business managers foresee that the economy will maintain its expansion. given the expected slowdown in the u. s. economy largely due to fiscal consolidation, analysts predict that mexico ’