What if everything you thought you knew about Mexico's drug cartels was wrong?

For decades, the world has watched Mexico fight a bloody war against drug trafficking organizations, wondering why a nation can't defeat criminal gangs within its borders. The answer is both shocking and simple: Mexico isn't losing the drug war—it literally cannot afford to win it.

In this groundbreaking economic analysis, Juan Rodriguez Aceves reveals a stunning truth hidden behind the headlines of violence and arrest statistics. Mexican cartels haven't just become criminal enterprises—they've evolved into the economic backbone of entire regions, employing millions of people and contributing tens of billions of dollars to Mexico's economy annually.

From the avocado farms of Michoacán to the financial districts of major cities, from rural communities that depend on cartel social services to government agencies supplemented by criminal revenue, Aceves traces how drug organizations have become so economically integrated into Mexican society that eliminating them would trigger economic collapse rivaling the Great Depression.

Through meticulous research and clear-eyed analysis, Narco-Economics exposes the impossible choice Mexico faces: continue a war that cannot be won, or acknowledge that victory would destroy the livelihoods of millions of innocent people. The book reveals why a police officer earning $150 monthly cooperates with cartels offering $1,500 supplements, why farmers choose crops worth ten times more than corn, and why entire communities actively protect the organizations that, technically, terrorize them.

This isn't a story about corruption or moral failure—it's about economic reality and rational choices made by people trapped in an impossible system. Aceves challenges everything we think we know about crime, economics, and policy, offering a sobering look at what happens when the cure becomes worse than the disease.