Notes1 Many journalistic articles and a few academic ones have been published on the occasion of the half century of the Cuban revolution comparing that nation’s economic and social situation in 1958 and 2008. Such exercise is complicated by serious methodological problems that have not been properly analyzed. This essay summarizes the swings of economic […]

Cuba’s announced restructuring of its sugar sector in 2002 was one of the largest centralized economic decisions students of business policy and economics could ever hope to observe. In the spirit of “command-countermand” 71 mills were permanently closed (Hagelberg and Alvarez, 2006). While knowledge of many of the details of the restructuring will have to […]

El 2008 fue otro año difícil y con frecuencia peligroso para los sindicalistas de todo el mundo. Así lo declara el Informe Anual de la Confederación Sindical Internacional (CSI) de este año sobre las Violaciones de los Derechos Sindicales, en el cual se detallan abusos de los derechos fundamentales de los trabajadores en 143 países.1 […]

Notes1 One of the foremost concerns in the mind of policymakers, pundits, and academics in recent years is the prospects for liberal reforms in developing nations that have experienced social revolutions. To some extent, the pace of reforms put into operation frames their domestic and international identity and builds political capital. The capacity to legislate […]

In 2008 Cuba experienced its most destructive hurricane season in recorded history. Three major hurricanes and a tropical storm impacted the island in less than a month early in the season, and another hurricane raked across the island later in the season. This paper summarizes information published in an earlier report on the damages to […]