Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-vdxz6 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-26T06:20:57.709Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

THE ABSOLUTION OF HISTORY: CUBAN LIVING STANDARDS AFTER 60 YEARS OF REVOLUTIONARY RULE

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  13 November 2020

John Devereux
John Devereux*
Affiliation:
City University of New Yorka
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

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.

Resumen

RESUMEN

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.

Keywords

growth and developmentCubacapabilitiesN10O40O50Crecimiento y desarrolloCubacapacidades
Type
Articles/Artículos
Information
Revista de Historia Economica - Journal of Iberian and Latin American Economic History , Volume 39 , Issue 1 , March 2021 , pp. 5 - 36
Check for updates
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2020. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of Instituto Figuerola, Universidad Carlos III de Madrid

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Footnotes

a

Department of Economics, CUNY. [email protected].

References

REFERENCES

Berdine, G., Geloso, V., and Powell, B. (2018): «Cuban Infant Mortality and Longevity: Health Care or Repression?» Health Policy and Planning 33 (6), pp. 755-757.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bergson, A. (1961): The Real National Income of Soviet Russia Since 1928. Cambridge, Mass: Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
Bergson, A. (1972): «The Comparative National Income of the USSR and the United States», in Daly, J. (ed.), International Comparisons of Prices and Output. New York: NBER, Columbia University Press, pp. 145-224.Google Scholar
Betancourt, R. (2019): «Cuba's ‘Structural’ Reforms: Missed Opportunities and Lower Living Standards». Working Paper, University of Maryland.Google Scholar
Bologna Pavlik, J., and Geloso, V. (2018): «The Cuban Revolution and Infant Mortality, 1959-1974». Working Paper, Texas Tech University.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Braithwaite, S. N. (1968): «Real Income Levels in Latin America». Review of Income and Wealth 14 (2), pp. 113–182.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Broadberry, S., Campbell, B., Klein, A., Overton, M., and Van Leeuwen, B. (2015): British Economic Growth, 1270-1870. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Brundenius, C. (1984): Revolutionary Cuba, the Challenge of Economic Growth with Equity. Boulder, CO: Westview Press.Google Scholar
Brundenius, C. (2009): «Revolutionary Cuba at 50: Growth with Equity Revisited». Latin American Perspectives 36(2), pp. 31-48.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Carnoy, M., and Wertheim, J. (1975): Cuba: Economic Change and Education Reform 1955-1974. Washington, D.C.: The World Bank.Google Scholar
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 University Press.Google Scholar
Central Intelligence Agency (1968, 1970, 1972): Cuba—Intelligence Handbook. Previously classified, released in 1999.Google Scholar
Deaton, A., and Aten, B. (2017): «Trying to Understand the PPPs in ICP 2011: Why Are the Results So Different?» American Economic Journal: Macroeconomics 9 (1), pp. 243-264.Google Scholar
Devereux, J. (2019): «Arrested Development? Puerto Rico in an American Century». The Journal of Economic History 79 (3), pp. 708-735.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dewhurst, J., Coppock, J., and Yates, L. (1961): Europe's Needs and Resources. New York: Twentieth Century Fund.Google Scholar
Diaz-Alejandro, C. (1973): «Review». Journal of Economic Literature 11 (1), pp. 89-93.Google Scholar
Dominguez, J. (1993): «Cuba Since 1959», in Bethell, L. (ed.), Cuba: A Short History. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 95-148.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Eckstein, S. (1993): «The Cuban Revolution in Comparative Perspective», in Levine, D. (ed.), Constructing Culture and Power in Latin America. Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press, pp. 429-455.Google Scholar
Feenstra, R., Ma, H., and Prasada Rao, D. S. (2009): «Consistent Comparisons of Real Income Across Countries and Over Time». Macroeconomic Dynamics 13 (Suppl. 2), pp. 169-193.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Feenstra, R., Inklaar, R., and Timmer, M. (2015): «The Next Generation of the Penn World Table». The American Economic Review 105 (10), pp. 3150-3182.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Feinstein, C. H. (1972): National Income, Expenditure and Output of the United Kingdom, 1855-1965. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Ghislandi, S., Sanderson, W., and Scherbov, S. (2019): «A Simple Measure of Human Development: The Human Life Indicator». Population and Development Review 45 (1), pp. 219-233.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Gilbert, M., and Kravis, I. (1954): An International Comparison of National Products and the Purchasing Power of Currencies. Paris: Organization for European Economic Cooperation.Google Scholar
Gilbert, M., and Kravis, I. (1958): Comparative National Products and Price Levels. Paris: Organization for European Economic Co-operation.Google Scholar
Gonzalez, R. M. (2015): «Infant Mortality in Cuba: Myth and Reality». Cuban Studies 42 (1), pp. 19-39.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gregory, P., and Harrison, M. (2005): «Allocation under Dictatorship: Research in Stalin's Archives». Journal of Economic Literature 43 (3), pp. 721-761.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hirschfeld, K. (2007a): Health, Politics, and Revolution in Cuba Since 1898. New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction Publishers.Google Scholar
Hirschfeld, K. (2007b): «Re-examining the Cuban Health Care System: Towards a Qualitative Critique». Cuban Affairs 2 (3), pp. 1-27.Google Scholar
Jales, H., Kang, T. H., Stein, G., and Ribeiro, F. (2018): «Measuring the Role of the 1959 Revolution on Cuba's Economic Performance». The World Economy 41 (8), pp. 2243-2274.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kaplan, N. (1969): The Record of Soviet Economic Growth, 1928-1965. (No. RM-6169). Santa Monica, California: Rand Corporation.Google Scholar
Kath, E. (2006): «Father Knows Best? Cuba's Proactive Approach to Healthcare». Cuba in Transition, Papers and Proceedings of ASCE. Volume 16, pp. 351-365.Google Scholar
Layard, R., Mayraz, G., and Nickell, S. (2008): «The Marginal Utility of Income». Journal of Public Economics 92 (8-9), pp. 1846-1857.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Locay, L. (2009): «Cuban Socioeconomic Indicators before the Revolution: An International Comparison». In Cuba in Transition, Papers and Proceeding of ASCE. Volume 19, pp. 146-152.Google Scholar
Locay, L., and Devereux, J. (2018) «Comparing the Quality of Education in Pre and Post-Revolutionary Cuba». Cuba in Transition, Papers and Proceeding of ASCE. Volume 25, pp. 149-154.Google Scholar
Locay, L., and Roberts, B. (2012): «Cuban Household Consumption: An Update». Working Paper, University of Miami.Google Scholar
Maddison, A. (1995): Monitoring the World Economy 1820-1992. Paris: Development Center of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.Google Scholar
Maddison, A. (1998): «Measuring the Performance of a Communist Command Economy: An Assessment of the CIA Estimates for the U.S.S.R». Review of Income and Wealth 44 (3), pp. 307-323.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Maddison, A. (2007): The World Economy: Vol II Historical Statistics. Paris: Development Center of the Organization for Economic Co-Operation and Development.Google Scholar
Maddison, A., and Wu, H. X. (2008): «Measuring China's Economic Performance». World Economy 9 (2), pp. 1-32.Google Scholar
Marein, B. (2020): «Economic Growth, Public Health, and the First Mortality Transition in the Tropics: Puerto Rico, 1923-1945». Working Paper, University of Colorado.Google Scholar
Martinez, L. (2019): «How Much Should We Trust the Dictator's GDP Growth Estimates?» Unpublished. University of Chicago.Google Scholar
McGuire, J. W., and Frankel, L. B. (2005): «Mortality Decline in Cuba, 1900-1959: Patterns, Comparisons, and Causes». Latin American Research Review 40 (2), pp. 83-116.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mesa-Lago, C. (1969): «Availability and Reliability of Statistics in Socialist Cuba (Part One)». Latin American Research Review 4 (1), pp. 53-91.Google Scholar
Mesa-Lago, C. (ed.). (1972): Revolutionary Change in Cuba. Pittsburgh, PA: University of Pittsburgh Press.Google Scholar
Mesa-Lago, C. (1981): The Economy of Socialist Cuba: A Two-Decade Appraisal. Albuquerque, NM: University of New Mexico Press.Google Scholar
Mesa-Lago, C. (1998): «Assessing Economic and Social Performance in the Cuban Transition of the 1990s». World Development 26 (5), pp. 857-876.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mesa-Lago, C. (2000): Market, Socialist, and Mixed Economies: Comparative Policy and Performance: Chile, Cuba, and Costa Rica. Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press.Google Scholar
Mesa-Lago, C. (2009): «Economic and Social Balance of Fifty Years of Cuban Revolution». In Cuba in Transition, Papers and Proceeding of ASCE. Vol 18, pp. 316-381.Google Scholar
Moorsteen, R. H., and Powell, R. P. (1966): The Soviet Capital Stock, 1928-1962. Homewood, IL: RD Irwin.Google Scholar
Nutter, G.W. (1962): The Growth of Industrial Production in the Soviet Union. Princeton, NJ: NBER, Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
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.Google Scholar
Pérez-López, J. F. (1987): Measuring Cuban Economic Performance. Austin, TX: University of Texas Press.Google Scholar
Pérez-López, J. F. (1991): «Bringing the Cuban Economy Into Focus: Conceptual and Empirical Challenges». Latin American Research Review 26 (3), pp. 7-53.Google Scholar
Pérez-López, J. F. (2001): «Waiting for Godot: Cuba's Stalled Reforms and Continuing Economic Crisis». Problems of Post-Communism 48 (6), pp. 43-55CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pérez-López, J. F., and Mesa-Lago, C. (2010): «Cuban GDP Statistics under the Special Period: Discontinuities, Obfuscation and Puzzles». Cuba in Transition. Papers and Proceeding of ASCE. Vol 19, pp. 153-167.Google Scholar
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-explains-castros-educational-excellents-unabridged/#.Google Scholar
Prados de la Escosura, L. (2015a): «World Human Development, 1870-2007». Review of Income and Wealth 61 (2), pp. 220-247.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Prados de la Escosura, L. (2015b): «Human Development as Positive Freedom: Latin America in Historical Perspective». Journal of Human Development and Capabilities 16 (3), pp. 342-373.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Prados de la Escosura, L. (2019): «Human Development in the Age of Globalization». Working Paper, Centre for Economic Policy Research.Google Scholar
Rawls, J. (1971): A Theory of Justice. Cambridge, MA: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
Ritter, A. (1990): «The Cuban Economy in the 1990s». Journal of Interamerican Studies and World Affairs 32 (3), pp. 117-149.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sanguinnetty, J. (2019): «The Cuban Economy Sixty Years Later». Working Paper, Association for the Study of the Cuban Economy.Google Scholar
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 Growth and Development 1950-1980. Washington D.C. U.S Congress, pp. 317-401.Google Scholar
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.Google Scholar
Speck, M. (2005): «Prosperity, Progress, and Wealth: Cuban Enterprise during the Early Republic, 1902-1927». Cuban Studies 36 (1), pp. 50-86.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Thompson, F. (2005): «Cuban Economic Performance in Retrospect». Review of Radical Political Economics 37 (3), pp. 311-319.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
UNESCO (2008): Student Achievement in Latin America and the Caribbean. Santiago, United Nations.Google Scholar
U.S. Department of Commerce (1956): Investment in Cuba. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office.Google Scholar
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. Resumen de políticas del BID» (Departamento de Investigación y Economista Jefe); IDB-PB-269.Google Scholar
Ward, M., and Devereux, J. (2012): «The Road Not Taken: Pre-Revolutionary Cuban Living Standards in Comparative Perspective». Journal of Economic History 72 (1), pp. 104-132.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
World Bank (International Bank for Reconstruction and Development) (1951): Report on Cuba. Washington, DC: World Bank.Google Scholar
Zimbalist, A. (1988): Cuban Political Economy: Controversies in Cubanology. Boulder, CO: Westview Press.Google Scholar
Zimbalist, A., and Brundenius, C. (1991): The Cuban Economy: Measurement and Analysis of Socialist Performance. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins Press.Google Scholar
Supplementary material: File

Devereux supplementary material

Devereux supplementary material

Download Devereux supplementary material(File)
File 670.2 KB