Notes1 In his thoughtful analysis of economic problems of Cuba during the transition to a democratic, market economy, delivered in December 1990 to the Association for the Study of the Cuban Economy (ASCE) as the first Carlos Díaz-Alejandro Lecture, Felipe Pazos wrote: Cuba will have to integrate (reincorporar) businessmen, managers, engineers and all sorts of […]

Notes1 For the first thirty years after the triumph of his revolution, Fidel Castro championed Cuba as a model socialist society. Gone were the casinos, the bootlegging Americans, the mafia, and the brothels they frequented. Socialist society, he claimed, is superior to capitalism. Girls do not have to sell themselves for money in Cuba’s new […]

Felipe Pazos’ professional activities have dual aspects: those based on his intellect and those based on his active involvement in the issues of his time. This is true in general as well as with respect to the role of institutions in Cuba’s transition from socialism. While I will spend most of my time on the […]

Ten years ago, Felipe Pazos gave us a valuable tool to help us think about the economic problems of transition in Cuba. Recently I re-read his paper “Problemas económicos de Cuba en el periodo de transición” and asked myself how it had withheld the test of time, focusing particularly on macroeconomic issues and policies. Early […]

Notes1 As result of different initial conditions the economic performance responses of countries to the same policies are different… Policy prescriptions, therefore, should be less ideological and more tailored to the country’s institutional conditions and stage of transition (Sachs et al., 2000a, 40). La transición del socialismo a una economía de mercado en los antiguos […]