Web Development Live

RHR International Company, a world leader in executive and organizational development, announces that Mindy Magrane, Psy.D. has joined the firm’s Chicago office as a consultant. She will report to managing director Dr. Grant Levitan.

Dr. Magrane’s work focuses on supporting leaders both as individuals and also motivators of others to enhance productivity and performance. Organizations benefit from the use of her succession planning and leadership development programs as key levers in ensuring the right talent is in place at all times. With an eye towards bottom-line results, she assists executives and managers with aligning and developing themselves as well as their employees to be most effective in the achievement of specific strategic objectives. Dr. Magrane has worked with a wide range of ventures including Fortune 100 corporations, small businesses and non-profit agencies. Industry segments which have benefited from her expertise include utilities/nuclear energy, manufacturing, retail, healthcare and other service sectors.

Prior to joining RHR, Dr. Magrane spent thirteen years in finance and talent development with Abbott Laboratories and RR Donnelley. In her finance positions, she contributed to the increased profitability of several business units through her consultation to business leaders on process improvements and decision making. She subsequently transitioned to leadership roles in the talent management function. Dr. Magrane also served on the faculty of three local universities’ doctoral programs.
“A person of Mindy’s knowledge and experience in business, talent development and psychology is a welcome addition to our seasoned team of consultants,” said Levitan. She will certainly expand our capacity to provide exceptional service to our existing clients and meet the needs of the growing Chicago market.”

Dr. Magrane received a bachelor’s degree in Management and Finance from Purdue University and her master’s and doctorate in Psychology at the Illinois School of Professional Psychology in Chicago. She is a licensed psychologist in the state of Illinois and a member of the American Psychological Association and Society of Consulting Psychology.

It did not take long before they recognized limitations in their existing Website. Allianz’s original site had to service clients from all sectors. Every effort was made to make all services available in one place, but things were just not working. Many customers were not able to find what they were looking for. Unfortunately, later attempts to organize the information only made matters worse: Every section of the Web site ended up with its own unique ‘look and feel’, and with inconsistent branding.

The key challenges, therefore, were not just to re-design & develop the website, but also to mirror Bajaj Allianz’s strong offline brand imagery on the Web along with all the ingredients of a Web 2.0 online Insurance Web presence for customers & sales channels alike. So that customers could renew their policies online along with paying their premiums, prospects could search, compare & find the best policy/plan for their families & agents could drive account management all under one interactive roof. eDynamic immediately identified these problems, proposing, designing and implementing a comprehensive solution.

Subir Singh, VP, Sales, eDynamic, credits the success of eDynamic’s efforts to the company’s established expertise in the Insurance industry. “Our deep understanding in insurance..and strategic approach to business help us maintain a strong and comfortable relationship….” eDynamic brought to the table additional experience in financial services, such as lending and loans, credit cards, real estate, and financial services.

By creating a generic, easily customizable template to provide a framework for the design, the information architecture is kept simple, easy to understand and navigate. Simplicity is also key to its versatility –remaining consistent when customized for each service segment. The design has proven so adaptable that, as the online services of Bajaj Allianz have continued to expand, the same recognizable branding and navigational controls have remained.

Says Vishal Karki, Head of Marketing for Bajaj Allianz Insurance, India, “It has been a pleasure to do business with eDynamic. The team at eDynamic holds its customer’s satisfaction as highest priority. They understood our business requirements and have delivered high-quality results on time.”

About eDynamic: eDynamic is a Global IT services, Interactive Marketing Services, Website Design & Development and Consulting Firm focused on delivering integrated business solutions. eDynamic is a rapidly growing, privately held company that delivers on the technology, creativity & marketing needs of enterprises. Through its offices in New York, Portland, Toronto, London, Dubai, and New Delhi, eDynamic is serving customers such as Suncor Energy, UPS, PepsiCo, New York Life, General Electric, Advance America, Preferred Commerce, Intercontinental Hotels, Jet Airways, Samsung, Sony, among many others.

Announced it is helping to prepare the next generation of business and IT experts at no charge with online resources designed to educate students about hot technologies. Six offerings are now available, providing students access to tutorials, forums, games and other resources, and helping them develop marketable skills in hot job areas such as enterprise computing, Web 2.0 programming and database management.

Additionally, through the Student Portal on the IBM Academic Initiative web site, students can access a three-step tutorial on Service Science Management and Engineering (SSME), a new academic discipline that brings together ongoing work in the fields of science, engineering, and business management, combined with the study of social and legal sciences. The SSME resources prepare students to take advantage of a growing field of “hybrid” technology jobs that require multi-disciplinary backgrounds, such as environmental engineering, information analysis and urban architect planning.

Companies today are increasingly going global and looking for employees that offer deep technical knowledge and a broad understanding of business dynamics to help them expand into new markets. The US Bureau of Labor Statistics predicts that more than 4.6 million jobs will be created in the services sector between 2004 and 2014, and IT will continue to be one of the fastest growing sectors. In addition, new global employment opportunities are expected to emerge based on the demand for integrated business and technology skills.

Universities such as Brandeis in Waltham, Massachusetts have focused their efforts to help students use open standards technologies to address real world challenges such as resource planning and carbon output. One tool used at Brandeis is Innov8, an educational video game developed by IBM that teaches students to apply technologies and business strategies to make companies more efficient and increase customer satisfaction. More than 100 colleges and universities have already incorporated the game into their curricula and thousands more can download the game from the IBM Academic Initiative website at no charge.

“Our relationship with IBM is critical to bridging the gap between IT and business skills,” said Preeta Banerjee, Assistant Professor of Strategy at Brandeis International Business School. “Through the IBM Academic Initiative, we are able to harness valuable resources in the classroom, such as Innov8, a video game that is representative of what a career at IBM might entail.”

“Colleges and universities worldwide are being challenged to develop a curriculum that offers students a practical combination of business and technical skills to meet industry demands,” said Kevin Faughnan, Director of IBM’s Academic Initiative. “This is why we’re making available the largest collection of learning resources specifically on the key skill areas our customers are looking for. We anticipate that thousands of students this year alone will take the opportunity to become technically proficient on leading-edge technologies and increase their skills portfolio.”

IBM customer MIB is moving toward a Services-Oriented Architecture extended with Web 2.0 to better serve its 500 member life and health insurance companies. Therefore, it is looking to attract emerging talent in Massachusetts who can continue development of Web 2.0 capabilities and Rich Internet Applications to assure secure data exchanges.

The report, “Broadband Internet Use in Rural Pennsylvania,” examines broadband availability and adoption in four sectors health care, local government, education and business through case studies, interviews with key information-technology personnel and analysis of organizations’ Web sites. While the report focuses on Pennsylvania, their recommendations hold true for any state with a large rural population, according to the researchers.

“Broadband services offer a huge opportunity for rural areas with significant payback in terms of economic development and community revitalization,” said Amy Glasmeier, professor of geography and co-author of the report. “The Internet makes possible a whole range of processes which involve more than rapid access to information and which range from joint projects by municipalities and collaborations between schools to development of new business processes.”

According to the researchers, while the number of rural users of broadband Internet services has been steadily increasing, access to broadband is not universal in rural areas, and in some places, dial-up remains the only affordable option. While dial-up allows for electronic access to information, its slower speed and lower bandwidth capacity limit organizations from developing Internet-enabled processes and collaborations what the researchers distinguish as “transformative” uses.

For instance, with broadband Internet, rural hospitals could improve patient care by forging networks with urban hospitals to access their expertise and resources. Rural hospitals also could develop interactive processes such as online appointment scheduling, remote patient monitoring through biosignals and image data and videoconferencing between patients and doctors.

“Policy must consider ways to facilitate broadband deployment to do more than the status quo only slightly faster or with less face-to-face contact,” Glasmeier said.

But policy makers also need to recognize that there is no single solution to the challenges of broadband utilization. Programs need to be specific to their sectors and linked to the specific challenges facing individual sectors, the researchers assert.

Some interactive processes such as streaming of public meetings, tax payments, conversation forums and collaborative software for curriculum development which broadband Internet can facilitate for local governments and school districts are less relevant for businesses and hospitals, for instance.

The report’s co-authors are Chris Benner, associate professor at University of California-Davis; Chandrani Ohdedar, Ph.D. student, Penn State department of geography; and Lee Carpenter of the Penn State Children, Youth and Families Consortium.

Technology giant IBM has announced new initiatives for the emerging unified communications market including a wide range of investments, product and technology advances and collaboration with leading clients and business partners.

There will be a USD 17 billion unified communications market for the taking by 2011, and the Big Blue is planning big inverstments to meet the demand, said the company in a statement. In a near future major technological changes would reshape the way business communicate and collaborate worldwide across the private and public sectors and IBM is investing significantly in a range of resources meet the demand for these shifts, it said. IBM Research is currently exploring a growing number of social and collaborative software projects with over 70 researchers dedicated to this work in eight labs worldwide. In 2008, over 1,300 IBM software developers and technical experts will make innovative contributions to unified communications. New technical skills programmes for IBM developers are being used to help accelerate software development, including the teaching of Eclipse-based development.

In addition, IBM’s Venture Capital programme is working to identify and fuel promising new innovations in unified communications.A part of this investment also covers an expansion of IBM Lotus Sametime software products. The new IBM Lotus Sametime Advanced software, to be available from 28 March 2008, includes community tools that enable users to spend less time trying to figure out who can help solve a problem, by reaching out to a community of colleagues or experts instantly. Lotus Sametime Advanced also features persistent group chat and instant screen sharing capabilities. The company is also making full investment in training its engineers, consultants and services professionals in IBM Global Services Method and Reference Architectures.

MEXICO CITY Mexico indicated Wednesday it expects the downturn in the U.S. will mean much slower growth this year for its own economy, which depends on its northern neighbor for the bulk of its trade and investment.The Treasury Department said it was lowering its forecast for Mexico’s 2008 economic growth to 2.8 percent from 3.7 percent - a 24 percent drop.”It is expected that the prevalent international economic scenario in 2008 will be less favorable for Mexico than what was anticipated,” the department said in a report posted on its Web site.Mexico’s gross domestic product is expected to have grown about 3.2 percent last year, the department said.More than any other country in Latin America, Mexico’s economic fate is tied to the U.S., its partner in the North American Free Trade Agreement. Mexico sends more than 80 percent of its exports to the U.S., which is also Mexico’s largest source of direct foreign investment and remittances.Mexico’s central bank on Wednesday also lowered its growth estimate by half a percentage point - to between 2.75 percent and 3.25 percent, compared to its previous estimate of 3.25 percent to 3.75 percent - also citing the U.S. downturn.Banco de Mexico said it expects there will be 620,000 jobs created in the formal economy this year, down from 756,000 in 2007.The bank also said remittances from Mexicans living abroad - the country’s second-largest source of foreign income after oil - had increased by a modest 1 percent last year compared with 2006, to $23.9 billion.It said it expected similar remittance growth in 2008.The lowered Mexican growth projections came on the same day the U.S. Commerce Department announced a growth rate of just 0.6 percent for the fourth quarter of 2007, the worst rate since 2002. Some fear a recession as U.S. growth - just 2.2 percent for all of 2007 - has stalled due to the ailing housing market and credit tightening.The Treasury Department said, however, there are “diverse factors that will mitigate the effects” of the slowing U.S. and global economy. It cited strong Mexican economic policies, increased spending on infrastructure, housing and other sectors, and anticipated high oil revenues.If it were not for those factors offsetting the U.S. slowdown, “the effect would have been much worse,” said Mauricio Gonzalez, president of the Mexico-based analysis firm Grupo Economistas Asociados.Latin America - especially Mexico - has always been hit hard by U.S. economic downturns. The region as a whole directs 50 percent of its exports to the United States, said Keiji Inoue, an economist at the United Nations.But Latin America is less vulnerable than in past crises, when a case of the sniffles in the U.S. economy prompted full-blown pneumonia across the region, economists say.One of Mexico’s strongest weapons is a huge public-private infrastructure plan proposed by President Felipe Calderon, who promised the government would spend $39 billion annually over his six-year term on roads, bridges, seaports, dams, and oil installations.Calderon noted the coming difficult times for the U.S. and global economy.”What we do not want is that this puts the brakes on the Mexican economy,” he said.In addition to Mexico’s infrastructure plan, the country is “revving the motors of our economy” with housing-construction projects, credit-lending programs, tourism development and diversification of its export markets, Calderon said earlier this month at a ceremony marking the start of construction on an $800 million dam.Such factors will indeed help to lessen the impact of the United States’ economic woes on Mexico, said Gonzalez, who noted that when former President Vicente Fox’s term began in 2000, Mexico’s growth rate dropped from about 6 percent to zero growth due to a U.S. drop from 3 percent to 1 percent.”That was not even a recession,” he said. “This time it’s not going to be that way.”If the U.S. does slip into a recession, the United Nations predicts Latin America as a whole would grow by only 2.6 percent, while Mexico’s growth would slow to about 1 percent, said chief U.N. economist Robert Vos.”That the U.S. downturn will affect us - there can be no doubt,” Gonzalez said.(This version CORRECTS year to 2007 from 2008 in 7th graf. )

MEXICO CITY Mexico indicated Wednesday it expects the downturn in the U.S. will mean much slower growth this year for its own economy, which depends on its northern neighbor for the bulk of its trade and investment.The Treasury Department said it was lowering its forecast for Mexico’s 2008 economic growth to 2.8 percent from 3.7 percent - a 24 percent drop.”It is expected that the prevalent international economic scenario in 2008 will be less favorable for Mexico than what was anticipated,” the department said in a report posted on its Web site.Mexico’s gross domestic product is expected to have grown about 3.2 percent last year, the department said.More than any other country in Latin America, Mexico’s economic fate is tied to the U.S., its partner in the North American Free Trade Agreement. Mexico sends more than 80 percent of its exports to the U.S., which is also Mexico’s largest source of direct foreign investment and remittances.Mexico’s central bank on Wednesday also lowered its growth estimate by half a percentage point - to between 2.75 percent and 3.25 percent, compared to its previous estimate of 3.25 percent to 3.75 percent - also citing the U.S. downturn.Banco de Mexico said it expects there will be 620,000 jobs created in the formal economy this year, down from 756,000 in 2007.The bank also said remittances from Mexicans living abroad - the country’s second-largest source of foreign income after oil - had increased by a modest 1 percent last year compared with 2006, to $23.9 billion.It said it expected similar remittance growth in 2008.The lowered Mexican growth projections came on the same day the U.S. Commerce Department announced a growth rate of just 0.6 percent for the fourth quarter of 2007, the worst rate since 2002. Some fear a recession as U.S. growth - just 2.2 percent for all of 2007 - has stalled due to the ailing housing market and credit tightening.The Treasury Department said, however, there are “diverse factors that will mitigate the effects” of the slowing U.S. and global economy. It cited strong Mexican economic policies, increased spending on infrastructure, housing and other sectors, and anticipated high oil revenues.If it were not for those factors offsetting the U.S. slowdown, “the effect would have been much worse,” said Mauricio Gonzalez, president of the Mexico-based analysis firm Grupo Economistas Asociados.Latin America - especially Mexico - has always been hit hard by U.S. economic downturns. The region as a whole directs 50 percent of its exports to the United States, said Keiji Inoue, an economist at the United Nations.But Latin America is less vulnerable than in past crises, when a case of the sniffles in the U.S. economy prompted full-blown pneumonia across the region, economists say.One of Mexico’s strongest weapons is a huge public-private infrastructure plan proposed by President Felipe Calderon, who promised the government would spend $39 billion annually over his six-year term on roads, bridges, seaports, dams, and oil installations.Calderon noted the coming difficult times for the U.S. and global economy.”What we do not want is that this puts the brakes on the Mexican economy,” he said.In addition to Mexico’s infrastructure plan, the country is “revving the motors of our economy” with housing-construction projects, credit-lending programs, tourism development and diversification of its export markets, Calderon said earlier this month at a ceremony marking the start of construction on an $800 million dam.Such factors will indeed help to lessen the impact of the United States’ economic woes on Mexico, said Gonzalez, who noted that when former President Vicente Fox’s term began in 2000, Mexico’s growth rate dropped from about 6 percent to zero growth due to a U.S. drop from 3 percent to 1 percent.”That was not even a recession,” he said. “This time it’s not going to be that way.”If the U.S. does slip into a recession, the United Nations predicts Latin America as a whole would grow by only 2.6 percent, while Mexico’s growth would slow to about 1 percent, said chief U.N. economist Robert Vos.”That the U.S. downturn will affect us - there can be no doubt,” Gonzalez said.(This version CORRECTS year to 2007 from 2008 in 7th graf. )

MEXICO CITY Mexico indicated Wednesday it expects the downturn in the U.S. will mean much slower growth this year for its own economy, which depends on its northern neighbor for the bulk of its trade and investment.The Treasury Department said it was lowering its forecast for Mexico’s 2008 economic growth to 2.8 percent from 3.7 percent - a 24 percent drop.”It is expected that the prevalent international economic scenario in 2008 will be less favorable for Mexico than what was anticipated,” the department said in a report posted on its Web site.Mexico’s gross domestic product is expected to have grown about 3.2 percent last year, the department said.More than any other country in Latin America, Mexico’s economic fate is tied to the U.S., its partner in the North American Free Trade Agreement. Mexico sends more than 80 percent of its exports to the U.S., which is also Mexico’s largest source of direct foreign investment and remittances.Mexico’s central bank on Wednesday also lowered its growth estimate by half a percentage point - to between 2.75 percent and 3.25 percent, compared to its previous estimate of 3.25 percent to 3.75 percent - also citing the U.S. downturn.Banco de Mexico said it expects there will be 620,000 jobs created in the formal economy this year, down from 756,000 in 2007.The bank also said remittances from Mexicans living abroad - the country’s second-largest source of foreign income after oil - had increased by a modest 1 percent last year compared with 2006, to $23.9 billion.It said it expected similar remittance growth in 2008.The lowered Mexican growth projections came on the same day the U.S. Commerce Department announced a growth rate of just 0.6 percent for the fourth quarter of 2007, the worst rate since 2002. Some fear a recession as U.S. growth - just 2.2 percent for all of 2007 - has stalled due to the ailing housing market and credit tightening.The Treasury Department said, however, there are “diverse factors that will mitigate the effects” of the slowing U.S. and global economy. It cited strong Mexican economic policies, increased spending on infrastructure, housing and other sectors, and anticipated high oil revenues.If it were not for those factors offsetting the U.S. slowdown, “the effect would have been much worse,” said Mauricio Gonzalez, president of the Mexico-based analysis firm Grupo Economistas Asociados.Latin America - especially Mexico - has always been hit hard by U.S. economic downturns. The region as a whole directs 50 percent of its exports to the United States, said Keiji Inoue, an economist at the United Nations.But Latin America is less vulnerable than in past crises, when a case of the sniffles in the U.S. economy prompted full-blown pneumonia across the region, economists say.One of Mexico’s strongest weapons is a huge public-private infrastructure plan proposed by President Felipe Calderon, who promised the government would spend $39 billion annually over his six-year term on roads, bridges, seaports, dams, and oil installations.Calderon noted the coming difficult times for the U.S. and global economy.”What we do not want is that this puts the brakes on the Mexican economy,” he said.In addition to Mexico’s infrastructure plan, the country is “revving the motors of our economy” with housing-construction projects, credit-lending programs, tourism development and diversification of its export markets, Calderon said earlier this month at a ceremony marking the start of construction on an $800 million dam.Such factors will indeed help to lessen the impact of the United States’ economic woes on Mexico, said Gonzalez, who noted that when former President Vicente Fox’s term began in 2000, Mexico’s growth rate dropped from about 6 percent to zero growth due to a U.S. drop from 3 percent to 1 percent.”That was not even a recession,” he said. “This time it’s not going to be that way.”If the U.S. does slip into a recession, the United Nations predicts Latin America as a whole would grow by only 2.6 percent, while Mexico’s growth would slow to about 1 percent, said chief U.N. economist Robert Vos.”That the U.S. downturn will affect us - there can be no doubt,” Gonzalez said.(This version CORRECTS year to 2007 from 2008 in 7th graf. )

MEXICO CITY Mexico indicated Wednesday it expects the downturn in the U.S. will mean much slower growth this year for its own economy, which depends on its northern neighbor for the bulk of its trade and investment.The Treasury Department said it was lowering its forecast for Mexico’s 2008 economic growth to 2.8 percent from 3.7 percent - a 24 percent drop.”It is expected that the prevalent international economic scenario in 2008 will be less favorable for Mexico than what was anticipated,” the department said in a report posted on its Web site.Mexico’s gross domestic product is expected to have grown about 3.2 percent last year, the department said.More than any other country in Latin America, Mexico’s economic fate is tied to the U.S., its partner in the North American Free Trade Agreement. Mexico sends more than 80 percent of its exports to the U.S., which is also Mexico’s largest source of direct foreign investment and remittances.Mexico’s central bank on Wednesday also lowered its growth estimate by half a percentage point - to between 2.75 percent and 3.25 percent, compared to its previous estimate of 3.25 percent to 3.75 percent - also citing the U.S. downturn.Banco de Mexico said it expects there will be 620,000 jobs created in the formal economy this year, down from 756,000 in 2007.The bank also said remittances from Mexicans living abroad - the country’s second-largest source of foreign income after oil - had increased by a modest 1 percent last year compared with 2006, to $23.9 billion.It said it expected similar remittance growth in 2008.The lowered Mexican growth projections came on the same day the U.S. Commerce Department announced a growth rate of just 0.6 percent for the fourth quarter of 2007, the worst rate since 2002. Some fear a recession as U.S. growth - just 2.2 percent for all of 2007 - has stalled due to the ailing housing market and credit tightening.The Treasury Department said, however, there are “diverse factors that will mitigate the effects” of the slowing U.S. and global economy. It cited strong Mexican economic policies, increased spending on infrastructure, housing and other sectors, and anticipated high oil revenues.If it were not for those factors offsetting the U.S. slowdown, “the effect would have been much worse,” said Mauricio Gonzalez, president of the Mexico-based analysis firm Grupo Economistas Asociados.Latin America - especially Mexico - has always been hit hard by U.S. economic downturns. The region as a whole directs 50 percent of its exports to the United States, said Keiji Inoue, an economist at the United Nations.But Latin America is less vulnerable than in past crises, when a case of the sniffles in the U.S. economy prompted full-blown pneumonia across the region, economists say.One of Mexico’s strongest weapons is a huge public-private infrastructure plan proposed by President Felipe Calderon, who promised the government would spend $39 billion annually over his six-year term on roads, bridges, seaports, dams, and oil installations.Calderon noted the coming difficult times for the U.S. and global economy.”What we do not want is that this puts the brakes on the Mexican economy,” he said.In addition to Mexico’s infrastructure plan, the country is “revving the motors of our economy” with housing-construction projects, credit-lending programs, tourism development and diversification of its export markets, Calderon said earlier this month at a ceremony marking the start of construction on an $800 million dam.Such factors will indeed help to lessen the impact of the United States’ economic woes on Mexico, said Gonzalez, who noted that when former President Vicente Fox’s term began in 2000, Mexico’s growth rate dropped from about 6 percent to zero growth due to a U.S. drop from 3 percent to 1 percent.”That was not even a recession,” he said. “This time it’s not going to be that way.”If the U.S. does slip into a recession, the United Nations predicts Latin America as a whole would grow by only 2.6 percent, while Mexico’s growth would slow to about 1 percent, said chief U.N. economist Robert Vos.”That the U.S. downturn will affect us - there can be no doubt,” Gonzalez said.(This version CORRECTS year to 2007 from 2008 in 7th graf. )

MEXICO CITY Mexico indicated Wednesday it expects the downturn in the U.S. will mean much slower growth this year for its own economy, which depends on its northern neighbor for the bulk of its trade and investment.The Treasury Department said it was lowering its forecast for Mexico’s 2008 economic growth to 2.8 percent from 3.7 percent - a 24 percent drop.”It is expected that the prevalent international economic scenario in 2008 will be less favorable for Mexico than what was anticipated,” the department said in a report posted on its Web site.Mexico’s gross domestic product is expected to have grown about 3.2 percent last year, the department said.More than any other country in Latin America, Mexico’s economic fate is tied to the U.S., its partner in the North American Free Trade Agreement. Mexico sends more than 80 percent of its exports to the U.S., which is also Mexico’s largest source of direct foreign investment and remittances.Mexico’s central bank on Wednesday also lowered its growth estimate by half a percentage point - to between 2.75 percent and 3.25 percent, compared to its previous estimate of 3.25 percent to 3.75 percent - also citing the U.S. downturn.Banco de Mexico said it expects there will be 620,000 jobs created in the formal economy this year, down from 756,000 in 2007.The bank also said remittances from Mexicans living abroad - the country’s second-largest source of foreign income after oil - had increased by a modest 1 percent last year compared with 2006, to $23.9 billion.It said it expected similar remittance growth in 2008.The lowered Mexican growth projections came on the same day the U.S. Commerce Department announced a growth rate of just 0.6 percent for the fourth quarter of 2007, the worst rate since 2002. Some fear a recession as U.S. growth - just 2.2 percent for all of 2007 - has stalled due to the ailing housing market and credit tightening.The Treasury Department said, however, there are “diverse factors that will mitigate the effects” of the slowing U.S. and global economy. It cited strong Mexican economic policies, increased spending on infrastructure, housing and other sectors, and anticipated high oil revenues.If it were not for those factors offsetting the U.S. slowdown, “the effect would have been much worse,” said Mauricio Gonzalez, president of the Mexico-based analysis firm Grupo Economistas Asociados.Latin America - especially Mexico - has always been hit hard by U.S. economic downturns. The region as a whole directs 50 percent of its exports to the United States, said Keiji Inoue, an economist at the United Nations.But Latin America is less vulnerable than in past crises, when a case of the sniffles in the U.S. economy prompted full-blown pneumonia across the region, economists say.One of Mexico’s strongest weapons is a huge public-private infrastructure plan proposed by President Felipe Calderon, who promised the government would spend $39 billion annually over his six-year term on roads, bridges, seaports, dams, and oil installations.Calderon noted the coming difficult times for the U.S. and global economy.”What we do not want is that this puts the brakes on the Mexican economy,” he said.In addition to Mexico’s infrastructure plan, the country is “revving the motors of our economy” with housing-construction projects, credit-lending programs, tourism development and diversification of its export markets, Calderon said earlier this month at a ceremony marking the start of construction on an $800 million dam.Such factors will indeed help to lessen the impact of the United States’ economic woes on Mexico, said Gonzalez, who noted that when former President Vicente Fox’s term began in 2000, Mexico’s growth rate dropped from about 6 percent to zero growth due to a U.S. drop from 3 percent to 1 percent.”That was not even a recession,” he said. “This time it’s not going to be that way.”If the U.S. does slip into a recession, the United Nations predicts Latin America as a whole would grow by only 2.6 percent, while Mexico’s growth would slow to about 1 percent, said chief U.N. economist Robert Vos.”That the U.S. downturn will affect us - there can be no doubt,” Gonzalez said.(This version CORRECTS year to 2007 from 2008 in 7th graf. )