The European Union was very successful in reducing the income gap between its richest and poorest countries in a relatively short time. It did so through freer trade and investment, but mainly through a program of nearly $500 billion in aid, contingent on better macroeconomic policies. A considerable amount of the money was wasted, but much was also put to effective use. We will not achieve a genuine partnership in North America or reduce illegal migration unless we narrow the development gap here. Mexico needs to grow at twice the rate of the United States on a sustainable basis. North America should establish an investment fund to help build roads, infrastructure and education in Mexico. We need to provide substantial aid—but much less than we are grant-ing to Iraq.

The United States has been distressingly cavalier in its attitude toward a country that has the ability to destabilize our national security and economy without even meaning to do us harm. Instability in Mexico would bring a flood of refugees to the Southwest, and the United States could not contain the consequences. Conversely, if Mexico's economy prospers, no other country would benefit more than the United States, because we provide 90 percent of all of that country’s imports.