Agricultural reforms are at the forefront of Cuba’s efforts to “update” its economic model (“actualización del modelo económico”). However, despite the gradual implementation of calibrated agricultural reforms since 2007, Cuba’s agricultural model remains primarily centralized. According to the “Guidelines” (“Lineamientos de la Política Económica y Social del Partido y la Revolucion”) ratified in April 2011, […]

This paper examines the difficult access that Cuba has to international financial markets in the context of incomplete reforms. After a review of the relationship between reforms and creditworthiness in transition economies, the paper analyzes the current situation of Cuba’s external debt and finance. Market source financing is examined in the light of international banking […]

Self-employment in Cuba: The sum of a Haitian bazaar, a Swedish tax rate, and North Korean political representation. Quite a model for the 21st century. —Cuesta Morúa (2013) In interviews with Cuba’s micro-entrepreneurs over the past 10–15 years, I occasionally heard one of the two following old Spanish sayings: “El ojo del amo engorda el […]

Dos años después de haber liberado del mercado inmobiliario en la isla, como parte de las reformas que lleva a cabo el gobierno cubano para transformar su modelo económico, la realidad ha sacado a flote las debilidades y limitaciones del marco legal que limita y detiene el desarrollo de lo que pudo haber sido una […]