Financial Decision-Making in Mexico: To Bet a Nation (review)
in ways that recall Hapsburg prebendism, in effect imposing hidden (informal) taxes on business. Even individuals who rise from the popular classes to positions of authority are not free from this disposition as Daniel Nugent shows in "la corruption a bajo nivel." Indeed, Alfonso Ramirez states unequivocally that corruption is "intrinsic" to Mexican entrepreneurial culture while Francisco Valdes Ugalde writes (Bulnes-like) of a "cleptocracia" (p. 145). Under these conditions, as Luis Astorga details, it is to be expected that the immense profits from illegal drugs would produce a parallel power structure within the Mexican government.