Carlos Slim, a shadow Mexican presidential candidate

International Herald Tribune carries a story about “one of the world's richest men turns to Mexico's future”.

Pro-business policy is indeed good for Mexico, but there is reason why business tycoon shouldn’t participate directly in politics.

“Slim, who has amassed a $30 billion fortune building Latin America's biggest telecommunications empire, has stepped aside from running companies to try to set the economic and social agenda for Mexico. Although he is not running in the July 2 presidential election, Slim has been acting like a candidate. He has been traveling the country by private jet in a campaign to convince the next government to cut energy costs, rid the legal system of corruption and allow more private investment in roads, power plants and the state oil monopoly, Petróleos Mexicanos, or Pemex.
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Slim's 11-page proposal, called the Chapultepec Accord, after the Mexico City park where it was announced, includes making the police and courts more independent, cutting red tape to make government programs more responsive to the poor, and allowing more private investment in housing, schools, clinics, roads and bridges.

"The only healthy way to invest is if it's a combination of public and private investment," he said.

Slim is preparing to profit if his proposals go forward. In September, Slim created a company called Impulsora del Desarrollo & el Empleo en America Latina, or Ideal, to build roads, waterworks and power plants if Mexico's next president follows his recommendations for more private investment.

Absent in Slim's campaign is a call to force more competition in telecommunications. His flagship company, Teléfonos de México, or Telmex, controls more than 90 percent of the fixed phone lines in Mexico. In the past eight years, Telmex has used the courts to block antitrust rulings designed to reduce its dominance."