As a new president prepares to take power in Mexico, the biggest economic news is what's not happening. The peso is not plummeting, investors are not panicking, and people are not suddenly paying more for their tortillas or televisions. Given recent history, this is a small miracle: every presidential transition in the last two decades has been scarred by an economic crisis. Instead of fears, there are great hopes, all raised by the next president, …showed first 75 words of 1894 total…

…showed last 75 words of 1894 total…ical ruling class, not weighed down by its often sordid past. He is already a historic figure: the man who drove the world's longest-ruling party from power after seven decades. Amid great change, the country feels stable, and its economy looks strong for the moment. But Mexico is a land of earthquakes, and if Mr. Fox cannot keep his promises when he is in power, the ground may well shake before he leaves office in 2006.