Mexico City, December 5, 2022.- The Graduate Studies area of the Universidad Panamericana held a conference for its students at the Santa Fe campus, with the special guest speaker, Arturo Dammell, as a guest speaker. Arturo Dammeconomist and philosopher, journalist and professor of our Universidad Panamericana.

To kick off the event, Almudena Vaca Romero, Director of Strategy, Development and Quality at Posgrados Panamericana, said: "I am sure that education, updating and academic preparation are key players in people's daily lives and what better than to be able to continue contributing to the preparation of those who today are actors of change in society".

The year of recovery?

Upon taking the floor, Damm questioned those present on whether 2022 was really the year of economic recovery, to which he said the answer depends on what is meant by the word recovery.

He proposed two scenarios: recovery will be achieved when the historical maximums reached before the recession in terms of direct investment, growth and welfare are achieved; or when the gross domestic product per capita achieved before the recession is recovered.

Direct investment and welfare

He went on to explain: "the direct investment that a country has depends on the confidence that businessmen have to invest directly in it". In this way, he indicated that the cancellation of projects with proper procedures has generated distrust among businessmen.

Thus, he said that when business confidence falls, direct investment falls, the production of goods and services falls and so does the level of people's well-being.

Increased well-being

Subsequently, he defined the term "competitiveness of the country" as "its capacity to attract, retain and multiply direct investments". He also stated that according to the Mexican Institute for Competitiveness A.C.(IMCO), a competitive country is one that is consistently attractive to talent and investment; an institute that points out that Mexico ranks 37th out of 43 nations evaluated. " We will have recovered when we recover the level of gross domestic product per capita," he said.

Finally, he said that the challenge for every company is competitiveness, while the political challenge is to avoid making decisions that damage business confidence and to avoid monopolies.

Arturo Damm is also a columnist for the newspaper La Razón and websites such as Asuntos Capitales and Animal Político. He is a commentator on television and radio news programs, as well as a speaker at business, academic and political forums.