Former Mexican President Felipe Calderón has emphasized how excessive administrative procedures can stifle economic development and weaken policy effectiveness. Speaking at Florida International University as a senior leadership fellow with the Adam Smith Center for Economic Freedom, Calderón reflected on his time in office and the persistent expansion of regulatory systems.
He compared bureaucratic growth to the rings of a tree, noting that each administration adds new layers of rules and processes, often without reassessing existing ones. Over time, even officials may lose sight of the original purpose behind certain regulations.
To tackle this issue, Calderón initiated reforms aimed at streamlining business formation. One major step was introducing a digital platform that reduced the time required to meet federal requirements for launching a company—from 58 days down to just nine. Additionally, his government launched a public campaign called “El Trámite Más Inútil” (The Most Useless Procedure), inviting citizens to identify redundant or illogical administrative tasks.
His remarks coincided with the release of the Adam Smith Center’s Index of Bureaucracy 2025. Initially focused on six Latin American nations, the study now covers 21 countries across Latin America, the Caribbean, and Europe, including Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, Spain, and Portugal. This year’s edition places special emphasis on medium-sized enterprises—frequently underrepresented in economic data—highlighting their critical role in job creation, innovation, and investment attraction.
Carlos Díaz-Rosillo, founding director of the center, noted that this focus marks a significant evolution in understanding regulatory burdens. The research aims to inform policymakers on how simplification can unlock economic potential.
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Former Mexican President Felipe Calderón shares insight into the impact of bureaucracy, Adam Smith Center releases research findings
As a global leader, former Mexican President Felipe Calderón has seen how red tape can hinder economic growth and impact public policy. n nCalderón, who is now a senior leadership fellow at FIU’s Adam Smith Center for Economic Freedom, recently gathered with students, faculty and community members at the university to discuss his experiences with bureaucracy while he served as president of Mexico. n n“I learned [that] the regulatory framework and bureaucracy are like trees,” Calderón said. “Every single year there is a new circle around the tree [trunk]… and that implies that the tree is growing, growing and growing. Every single administration establishes its own new circle of bureaucracy and regulatory framework.” n nAs years go by, even policymakers themselves may discover they don’t know why a particular regulation exists, he said. n nCalderón set out to understand how red tape was crippling innovation. “First, we analyzed carefully with a special unit what were the steps that anyone needed to take to open a business at the federal level… It was clear that it was a complicated process…” n nHe led a variety of measures during his presidency to reduce such bureaucratic barriers. For example, he launched an online platform that allowed citizens to fulfill the requirements for starting a business at the federal level — effectively cutting the number of days it took to fulfill various requirements from 58 days to nine days. Another example: His administration launched a contest called “El Trámite Más Inútil” (“The Most Useless Procedure”), in which citizens were invited to submit examples of excessive or pointless government procedures. n nCalderón’s conversation was part of an Adam Smith Center event in which the team shared research findings from its Index of Bureaucracy 2025 study. n nFour years ago, the center began its work on the project by analyzing the impact of bureaucracy on businesses in six Latin American countries. Today, the study has flourished into a groundbreaking analysis of the bureaucratic burden businesses face across 21 countries in Latin America, the Caribbean and Europe. This year’s analysis looked at Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Guyana, Honduras, Italy, Mexico, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Portugal, Spain, Trinidad and Tobago and Uruguay. n n“What decisively distinguishes this 2025 edition is its focus on medium-sized businesses, often underestimated or overlooked in statistics, but which are essential to the productive architecture due to their ability to generate quality employment, drive innovation and attract investment,” said Carlos Díaz-Rosillo, founding director of the Adam Smith Center for Economic Freedom.