Think of it! If the Senate agrees, a Federal District businessman could fulfill all his legal obligations to DDF and Secofi, and further take advantage of all the support programs granted him by their infinite wisdom, by just considering and filling out where necessary or desirable a mere 230 different forms and applications! Throw in just 6 more tramites, and he can cover Foreign Relations too. That's three entire secretariats satisfied with just 236 forms and applications -- and the Federal District businessman has only about a dozen secretariats (Hacienda and Labor, for example) more to go!

The Council stresses that the majority of these remaining 236 tramites are voluntary, i.e., applications demonstrating eligibility for optional support programs, rather than obligatory forms. That's their bureaucratic point of view, but businessmen understand perfectly well their obligation to pay the taxes that finance those support programs, so when a stroke of bureaucratic good luck puts their own business in line for a partial tax refund via a support program's cash or services, they must apply for it or face an insurmountable competitive disadvantage vis-a-vis their peers. Of course, if their peers have better political connections, their own application may just waste both time and mordidas, but at least their eligibility makes them potentially better off than those ineligible businessmen who must still pay all their taxes without any prospects of special support in return.

On their own terms, the Council's efforts definitely improve the business climate here. Even businessmen independent of the cheerleading chambers would have to agree that, relative to Mexico's prior regulatory scheme, those efforts reduce their burdens. The problem is that, relative to the world's benchmark regulatory schemes, the Council's efforts merely rearrange the deck chairs on the Titanic.

Driven by Kauffman's Law (technology grows combinatorially!), accelerating global economic evolution leaves businessmen governed by Roman Law regulatory schemes trailing ever further behind the world's Common Law business leaders. To create high-growth business gazelles by the thousands, Mexico needs to engage its population's vast creativity and innovative potential in creating new business models and businesses that create new capital and employment by better serving Mexicans and people everywhere. Instead, vast bureaucracies occupy Mexicans' skills in learning new routes through a newly trimmed tramitology that still basically tries to keep businessmen from doing anything that the government doesn't already expect and agree with.

Gazelles succeed by finding unexpected ways to serve people. For example, Avantel is now creating high growth in Mexico's employment and wealth by selling Mexicans new, low-cost long distance services that they can dial in to through local Telmex lines -- services that don't unfairly burden Mexico's potential exporters with Telmex's monopolistic inefficiencies. Telmex has complained bitterly that Avantel's innovation violates Mexico's telecom rules; Avantel says it doesn't. In truth, like bureaucrats everywhere, SCT's bureacrats rarely foresee any innovations, so their rulemaking simply didn't address what Avantel is now doing. The two companies agree on the facts, but differ on their perspectives. As a Roman Law company, Telmex believes that Mexico prohibits what it doesn't permit. A Common Law company, Avantel believes that Mexico permits what it doesn't prohibit.

Cofetel hasn't ruled yet on Telmex's complaint about Avantel's actions. It's decision will help us know whether it will follow the Roman Law or the Common Law -- whether it will favor entrenched interests or creative innovations in connecting Mexicans to Mexico and the rest of the world. If Cofetel favors creative innovations, then this new gazelle's survival may presage the emergence of other high-growth, high-value-added businesses that will create the capital and employment needed by Mexico's growing population. If it favors entrenched interests, though, then President Zedillo, the Senators, and the Deputies may want to consider Telmex's oft-demonstrated willingness to do absolutely nothing for its customers without a written go-ahead from the telecom bureaucracy, and then benchmark Cofetel against the United Kingdom's advanced regulatory scheme of a completely open and competitive telecom market. Mexicans can't afford to continue wasting their creativity and energy on fighting regressive and repressive bureaucracies that instinctively punish anything new.

Readers with questions or comments for Dr. White can call 011(525)595-6045, fax 011(525)683-5874, or email white@profmexis.sar.net

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