Notes1 The main problem faced by government is allocating scarce resources across competing activities and sectors. The choice between alternative investments, such as education versus physical infrastructure, depends on society’s objectives, which are represented by governmental decisions, and on the comparison of costs and future benefits of an investment. Since economists treat education as an […]

Cuba’s economic crisis began as a result of the collapse of the Soviet Union and an inefficient management of the economy. This crisis brought uncertainty to the survivability of the Revolution. Soviet subsidies to the Cuban economy could no longer be counted on by the Castro regime. A new focus on economic methods and techniques […]

Notes1 Cuba is a land of contradictions. People have no money, but no one goes hungry. Buildings are crumbling, yet Havana is one of the most beautiful cities in the world. It rains when the sun is shining, and the streets are full of antique cars that should have died years ago. Cubans continue to […]

I was invited to talk because I am reasonably well versed in U.S. and international trade policy, and not because I am an expert on Cuba. My focus, as suggested, will be on the post-Castro period. Put differently, I was asked to speculate because none of us knows what the political or economic structure will […]

When Cuba lost the former Soviet Union’s economic support, the island entered what is commonly called the Special Period. Stretching now for over a decade, the Special Period has been marked by material deprivation, ongoing legal and illegal emigration, societal malaise, and government efforts to prop up revolutionary fervor. But the Special Period has also […]