California should partner with Mexico to boost economy

Mexico's economy is poised to surpass the state of California's own economy within the next few decades, Joe Mathews, a columnist for Zócalo Public Square, wrote in a recent article. If California was considered its own country, it would have the ninth largest economy on the planet - Mexico is currently ranked 14th. However, Goldman Sachs expects Mexico to take the fifth spot by 2050.

Mexico's economy has been growing thanks to a boost in the manufacturing industry and other sectors. Companies in the U.S. have been expanding to Mexico to outsource production or set up new manufacturing facilities to take advantage of the cheaper operating costs and reliable labor. According to Mathews, the large pool of engineers and other manufacturing workers in Mexico is one major reason California should aim to make the southern neighbor a key economic partner, Mathews wrote. 

Mexico is already California's largest export market, according to the source. The state's lagging economy could benefit from Mexico's growth and boost exports and other activity between the two. 

"Mexico is less a problem and more an answer for the economic, security and international diplomatic challenges the United States faces today," Shannon K. O'Neil of the Council on Foreign Relations wrote in her book Two Nations Indivisible, according to Mathews.

As Mexican economic activity continues to expand in the future, California should begin working on a strong partnership, he continued. 

"The methods of cooperation could be many, but the overriding goal should be to turn California and Mexico into ... a single 'economic community' and ultimately a union," Matthews wrote. 

Mexico and California are already working together on environmental issues. Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto plans to travel to California to meet with Gov. Jerry Brown's office to discuss partnering on climate issues as the two nations have "a lot of common interests," according to California's Air Resources Board Chairwoman Mary Nichols. 

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