The absolution of history: Cuban living standards after 60 years of revolutionary rule

• John Devereux ^[1]
  1. [1] City University of New York

     City University of New York

     Estados Unidos

     
• Localización: Revista de Historia Económica = Journal of Iberian and Latin American Economic History, ISSN 0212-6109, Año nº 39, Nº 1, 2021, págs. 5-36
• Idioma: inglés
• DOI: 10.1017/S0212610920000233
• Texto completo no disponible (Saber más ...)
• Resumen
  • español

    Hace seis décadas Cuba inició un monumental experimento social y económico. Este estudio documenta los efectos de ese experimento sobre los estándares de vida cubanos. Antes de la revolución, el ingreso per cápita cubano estaba al nivel de Irlanda y Finlandia. De hecho, Cuba era una de las sociedades de habla hispana más ricas. Después de la revolución el crecimiento es glacialmente lento con solo cuarenta por ciento de crecimiento en PIB per cápita, igual a una tasa de crecimiento del 0.6 por ciento, entre los más bajos de todo el mundo. Sin duda, otras dimensiones más amplias del bienestar, como educación y salud, mejoraron, sin embargo esto no cambia la conclusión de que la revolución empobreció a Cuba en relación a cualquier otro contrafactual.

  • English

    Six decades ago, Cuba initiated a momentous social and economic experiment. This paper documents the effects of the experiment on Cuban living standards. Before the revolution, Cuban income per capita was on a par with Ireland or Finland. Indeed, Cuba was one of the richest of the Spanish-speaking societies. Growth is glacially slow after the revolution as GDP per capita increased by 40 per cent between 1957 and 2017 equal to an annual growth rate of 0.6 per cent—among the lowest anywhere. To be sure, other dimensions of well-being such as education and health improved, yet broader welfare measures do not change the conclusion that the revolution impoverished Cuba relative to any plausible counter factual.

• Referencias bibliográficas
  • BERDINE, G., GELOSO, V., and POWELL, B. (2018): «Cuban Infant Mortality and Longevity: Health Care or Repression?» Health Policy and Planning...
  • BERGSON, A. (1961): The Real National Income of Soviet Russia Since 1928. Cambridge, Mass: Harvard University Press.
  • BERGSON, A. (1972): «The Comparative National Income of the USSR and the United States», in J. DALY (ed.), International Comparisons of Prices...
  • BETANCOURT, R. (2019): «Cuba’s ‘Structural’ Reforms: Missed Opportunities and Lower Living Standards». Working Paper, University of Maryland.
  • BOLOGNA PAVLIK, J., and GELOSO, V. (2018): «The Cuban Revolution and Infant Mortality, 1959-1974». Working Paper, Texas Tech University.
  • BRAITHWAITE, S. N. (1968): «Real Income Levels in Latin America». Review of Income and Wealth 14 (2), pp. 113–182.
  • BROADBERRY, S., CAMPBELL, B., KLEIN, A., OVERTON, M., and VAN LEEUWEN, B. (2015): British Economic Growth, 1270-1870. Cambridge: Cambridge...
  • BRUNDENIUS, C. (1984): Revolutionary Cuba, the Challenge of Economic Growth with Equity. Boulder, CO: Westview Press.
  • BRUNDENIUS, C. (2009): «Revolutionary Cuba at 50: Growth with Equity Revisited». Latin American Perspectives 36(2), pp. 31-48.
  • CARNOY, M., and WERTHEIM, J. (1975): Cuba: Economic Change and Education Reform 1955-1974. Washington, D.C.: The World Bank.
  • CARNOY, M., GOVE, A. K., and MARSHALL, J. H. (2007): Cuba’s Academic Advantage: Why Students in Cuba do Better in School. Stanford, CA: Stanford...
  • Central Intelligence Agency (1968, 1970, 1972): Cuba—Intelligence Handbook. Previously classified, released in 1999.
  • DEATON, A., and ATEN, B. (2017): «Trying to Understand the PPPs in ICP 2011: Why Are the Results So Different?» American Economic Journal:...
  • DEVEREUX, J. (2019): «Arrested Development? Puerto Rico in an American Century». The Journal of Economic History 79 (3), pp. 708-735.
  • DEWHURST, J., COPPOCK, J., and YATES, L. (1961): Europe’s Needs and Resources. New York: Twentieth Century Fund.
  • DIAZ-ALEJANDRO, C. (1973): «Review». Journal of Economic Literature 11 (1), pp. 89-93.
  • DOMINGUEZ, J. (1993): «Cuba Since 1959», in L. BETHELL (ed.), Cuba: A Short History. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 95-148.
  • ECKSTEIN, S. (1993): «The Cuban Revolution in Comparative Perspective», in D. LEVINE (ed.), Constructing Culture and Power in Latin America....
  • FEENSTRA, R., MA, H., and PRASADA RAO, D. S. (2009): «Consistent Comparisons of Real Income Across Countries and Over Time». Macroeconomic...
  • FEENSTRA, R., INKLAAR, R., and TIMMER, M. (2015): «The Next Generation of the Penn World Table». The American Economic Review 105 (10), pp....
  • FEINSTEIN, C. H. (1972): National Income, Expenditure and Output of the United Kingdom, 1855-1965. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
  • GHISLANDI, S., SANDERSON, W., and SCHERBOV, S. (2019): «A Simple Measure of Human Development: The Human Life Indicator». Population and Development...
  • GILBERT, M., and KRAVIS, I. (1954): An International Comparison of National Products and the Purchasing Power of Currencies. Paris: Organization...
  • GILBERT, M., and KRAVIS, I. (1958): Comparative National Products and Price Levels. Paris: Organization for European Economic Co-operation.
  • GONZALEZ, R. M. (2015): «Infant Mortality in Cuba: Myth and Reality». Cuban Studies 42 (1), pp. 19-39.
  • GREGORY, P., and HARRISON, M. (2005): «Allocation under Dictatorship: Research in Stalin’s Archives». Journal of Economic Literature 43 (3),...
  • HIRSCHFELD, K. (2007a): Health, Politics, and Revolution in Cuba Since 1898. New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction Publishers.
  • HIRSCHFELD, K. (2007b): «Re-examining the Cuban Health Care System: Towards a Qualitative Critique». Cuban Affairs 2 (3), pp. 1-27.
  • JALES, H., KANG, T. H., STEIN, G., and RIBEIRO, F. (2018): «Measuring the Role of the 1959 Revolution on Cuba’s Economic Performance». The...
  • KAPLAN, N. (1969): The Record of Soviet Economic Growth, 1928-1965. (No. RM-6169). Santa Monica, California: Rand Corporation.
  • KATH, E. (2006): «Father Knows Best? Cuba’s Proactive Approach to Healthcare». Cuba in Transition, Papers and Proceedings of ASCE. Volume...
  • LAYARD, R., MAYRAZ, G., and NICKELL, S. (2008): «The Marginal Utility of Income». Journal of Public Economics 92 (8-9), pp. 1846-1857.
  • LOCAY, L. (2009): «Cuban Socioeconomic Indicators before the Revolution: An International Comparison». In Cuba in Transition, Papers and Proceeding...
  • LOCAY, L., and DEVEREUX, J. (2018) «Comparing the Quality of Education in Pre and Post-Revolutionary Cuba». Cuba in Transition, Papers and...
  • LOCAY, L., and ROBERTS, B. (2012): «Cuban Household Consumption: An Update». Working Paper, University of Miami.
  • MADDISON, A. (1995): Monitoring the World Economy 1820-1992. Paris: Development Center of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.
  • MADDISON, A. (1998): «Measuring the Performance of a Communist Command Economy: An Assessment of the CIA Estimates for the U.S.S.R». Review...
  • MADDISON, A. (2007): The World Economy: Vol II Historical Statistics. Paris: Development Center of the Organization for Economic Co-Operation...
  • MADDISON, A., and WU, H. X. (2008): «Measuring China’s Economic Performance». World Economy 9 (2), pp. 1-32.
  • MAREIN, B. (2020): «Economic Growth, Public Health, and the First Mortality Transition in the Tropics: Puerto Rico, 1923-1945». Working Paper,...
  • MARTINEZ, L. (2019): «How Much Should We Trust the Dictator’s GDP Growth Estimates?» Unpublished. University of Chicago.
  • MCGUIRE, J. W., and FRANKEL, L. B. (2005): «Mortality Decline in Cuba, 1900-1959: Patterns, Comparisons, and Causes». Latin American Research...
  • MESA-LAGO, C. (1969): «Availability and Reliability of Statistics in Socialist Cuba (Part One)». Latin American Research Review 4 (1), pp....
  • MESA-LAGO, C. (ed.). (1972): Revolutionary Change in Cuba. Pittsburgh, PA: University of Pittsburgh Press.
  • MESA-LAGO, C. (1981): The Economy of Socialist Cuba: A Two-Decade Appraisal. Albuquerque, NM: University of New Mexico Press.
  • MESA-LAGO, C. (1998): «Assessing Economic and Social Performance in the Cuban Transition of the 1990s». World Development 26 (5), pp. 857-876.
  • MESA-LAGO, C. (2000): Market, Socialist, and Mixed Economies: Comparative Policy and Performance: Chile, Cuba, and Costa Rica. Baltimore:...
  • MESA-LAGO, C. (2009): «Economic and Social Balance of Fifty Years of Cuban Revolution». In Cuba in Transition, Papers and Proceeding of ASCE....
  • MOORSTEEN, R. H., and POWELL, R. P. (1966): The Soviet Capital Stock, 1928-1962. Homewood, IL: RD Irwin.
  • NUTTER, G.W. (1962): The Growth of Industrial Production in the Soviet Union. Princeton, NJ: NBER, Princeton University Press.
  • OSHIMA, H. (1961): «A New Estimate of the National Income and Product of Cuba in 1953». Food Research Institute Studies 2 (3), pp. 213-227.
  • PÉREZ-LÓPEZ, J. F. (1987): Measuring Cuban Economic Performance. Austin, TX: University of Texas Press.
  • PÉREZ-LÓPEZ, J. F. (1991): «Bringing the Cuban Economy Into Focus: Conceptual and Empirical Challenges». Latin American Research Review 26...
  • PÉREZ-LÓPEZ, J. F. (2001): «Waiting for Godot: Cuba’s Stalled Reforms and Continuing Economic Crisis». Problems of Post-Communism 48 (6),...
  • PÉREZ-LÓPEZ, J. F., and MESA-LAGO, C. (2010): «Cuban GDP Statistics under the Special Period: Discontinuities, Obfuscation and Puzzles». Cuba...
  • PETERSON, P. (2020): «Cuban Schools—Too Good To Be True». Working paper available at https://www.educationnext.org/cuban-schools-too-good-to-be-true-what-explainscastros-educational-excellents-unabridged/#.
  • PRADOS DE LA ESCOSURA, L. (2015a): «World Human Development, 1870-2007». Review of Income and Wealth 61 (2), pp. 220-247.
  • PRADOS DE LA ESCOSURA, L. (2015b): «Human Development as Positive Freedom: Latin America in Historical Perspective». Journal of Human Development...
  • PRADOS DE LA ESCOSURA, L. (2019): «Human Development in the Age of Globalization». Working Paper, Centre for Economic Policy Research.
  • RAWLS, J. (1971): A Theory of Justice. Cambridge, MA: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press.
  • RITTER, A. (1990): «The Cuban Economy in the 1990s». Journal of Interamerican Studies and World Affairs 32 (3), pp. 117-149.
  • SANGUINNETTY, J. (2019): «The Cuban Economy Sixty Years Later». Working Paper, Association for the Study of the Cuban Economy.
  • SCHROEDER, G. E., and DENTON, M. E. (1982): «An Index of Consumption in the U.S.S.R.», in Joint Economic Committee, USSR: Measures of Economic...
  • SIXTO, F. (2002): «An Evaluation of Four Decades of Cuban Healthcare», in Cuba in Transition. Papers and Proceeding of ASCE. Vol 12, pp. 325-343.
  • SPECK, M. (2005): «Prosperity, Progress, and Wealth: Cuban Enterprise during the Early Republic, 1902-1927». Cuban Studies 36 (1), pp. 50-86.
  • THOMPSON, F. (2005): «Cuban Economic Performance in Retrospect». Review of Radical Political Economics 37 (3), pp. 311-319.
  • UNESCO (2008): Student Achievement in Latin America and the Caribbean. Santiago, United Nations.
  • U.S. Department of Commerce (1956): Investment in Cuba. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office.
  • VIDAL, A. (2017): «¿Qué lugar ocupa la economía cubana en la región?: Una medición a la tasa PPA de las brechas de ingreso y productividad....
  • WARD, M., and DEVEREUX, J. (2012): «The Road Not Taken: Pre-Revolutionary Cuban Living Standards in Comparative Perspective». Journal of Economic...
  • World Bank (International Bank for Reconstruction and Development) (1951): Report on Cuba. Washington, DC: World Bank.
  • ZIMBALIST, A. (1988): Cuban Political Economy: Controversies in Cubanology. Boulder, CO: Westview Press.
  • ZIMBALIST, A., and BRUNDENIUS, C. (1991): The Cuban Economy: Measurement and Analysis of Socialist Performance. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins Press.