Notes1 For more than a decade, the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) has annually published the important Human Development Report (hereafter the Report). The most consulted aspect of this widely used international report is the Human Development Index (HDI), which at its peak ranked 174 countries in the world, including Cuba, based on socio-economic indicators. […]
Response to Comments on Market, Socialist and Mixed Economies: Chile, Cuba, and Costa Rica
I do appreciate ASCE’s initiative in organizing this panel on my book, as well as all the comments by the four members of the panel, both the praise and the criticism. My response will follow the same order of the commentaries: Chile, Cuba, Costa Rica and Comparisons. CHILE León argues that some would have preferred […]
The Cuban Economy in 1999-2001: Evaluation of Performance and Debate on the Future
Notes1 In a previous paper presented at the annual meeting of the Association for the Study of the Cuban Economy (ASCE), I analyzed Cuba’s economic performance in 1997-1998 (Mesa-Lago 1998) and the present paper continues that tradition. In 1999-2000, the Cuban economy grew at an annual average rate of almost 6% and yet, in 2000, […]
Comments by Carmelo Mesa-Lago on “The Pension System of Cuba: The Current Situation and Implications of International Pension Reform Experiences for Addressing Cuba’s Problems” by Lorenzo
Based on my work for four decades on both Cuba and social security pensions, I can say that Lorenzo Pérez’ paper on pension reform in Cuba is very good and that I agree with almost all it says. Especially interesting for me is his comparison of the Cuban pension system with that of nations that […]
ECLAC’s Report on the Cuban Economy in the 1990s
This is a brief analysis of some issues in the U.N. Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) book La economía cubana: Reformas estructurales y desempeño en los noventa. A more comprehensive review of this book (dealing with different topics), is forthcoming in an issue of Cuban Studies to be published in 1999. […]