Ever since the demise of the Soviet Union and the subsequent demise of Cuba’s sugar industry, it has been apparent that the island has had a hard time being competitive in world markets. Beyond nickel and some remnants of sugar, it has had little in the way of goods to export. And its tourism has […]
Foreign Investment in Cuba: Mariel and Liberalization
Cuba is a low recipient of foreign investment. After a surge in 1994-2000 following the demise of the Soviet Union, foreign investment has played a very small role in the economy.[i] Lamentably foreign investment data are not published either by the Cuban government or by countries of origin. Nonetheless national income accounts provide bleak indicators of […]
Religion, Social Norms and the State – The 2014 Letter of the Sacerdotes Mayores de Ifa of Cuba[i]
For the last two years I have written about the annual letter of the Cuban Council of the High Priests of Ifá (Consejo Cubano De Sacerdotes Mayores De Ifá), the practitioners of traditional religion brought over from West Africa with the slave trade and now naturalized as a powerful indigenous religion throughout the Caribbean and […]
A Triumph of Intelligence: Cuba Moves towards Exchange Rate Unification
The “Official Note” was written in a characteristically defensive style, with stern warnings that the strategy will exclude the use of “shock therapies”. But never mind. The important message was clear: Cuba is going to implement “a timeline for measures which will lead to monetary and currency exchange unification.” The inefficient, absurd and discriminatory multiple […]
Cuba’s External Debt Problem: Daunting Yet Surmountable
Cuba has been in default of the bulk of its external financial obligations for over 50 years without negotiations towards a comprehensive restructuring. Even the facts of the case are difficult to ascertain. According to the most current official Cuban information published by Oficina Nacional de Estadisticas, the external debt stood at $12.3 billion at the […]