Reports
Discussion Papers
No.217 The Cuban Economy: A Current Evaluation and Proposals for Necessary Policy Changes
by Omar Everleny Pérez Villanueva
December 2009
ABSTRACT
Politicians,
social
scientists
and
general
readers
have
noted
in
both
Cuban
and
international
academic
forums
and
periodicals
that
the
well-being
enjoyed
by
the
Cuban
people
in
the
1980s
has
been
seriously
compromised
since
the
economic
crisis
of
the
1990s.
Even
for
the
most
skeptical
of
observers
it
is
clear
that
this
worsening
of
conditions
can
be
attributed
not
only
to
external
factors,
such
as
the
breakup
of
the
international
socialist
system,
the
tightening
of
the
US
blockade,
and
the
worldwide
economic
crisis
suffered
by
underdeveloped
countries,
but
also
to
internal
factors
that
have
kept
the
country
from
taking
full
advantage
of
the
human
and
material
potential
available
on
the
island.
Although
Cuba
is
currently
experiencing
an
economic
recovery
from
the
collapse
in
GDP
in
the
mid
1990s
following
the
collapse
of
its
ties
with
the
Socialist
Bloc,
it
continues
to
maintain
high
import
coefficients
due
to
longstanding
structuraldifficulties.
The
country
is
highly
dependent
on
food
imports
as
a
result
of
a
deficient
agrarian
policy.
It
imports
energy
to
a
lesser
but
still
significant
extent,
and
it
still
requires
many
intermediate
inputs
for
the
productive
process.
Cuban
industry
and
agriculture
continue
to
suffer
from
low
levels
of
efficiency
and
productivity.
Institutional
reforms
in
the
mid-1990s
allowed
the
population
to
diversify
its
sources
of
income.
The
growing
role
of
market
forces
in
the
once
state-dominated
economy
and
the
strategies
being
pursued
by
people
for
generating
income
have
led
to
slow,
but
growing,
social
differentiation.
This
process
continues,
despite
measures
taken
to
counteract
it
through
different
programs
related
to
the
so-called
Battle
of
Ideas.
The
duration
of
the
Special
Period
points
to
the
contradiction
between
time
elapsed
in
the
development
of
social
processes
and
time
as
experienced
by
real
human
beings.
Addressing
the
social
inequalities
unintentionally
generated
over
the
course
of
the
Special
Period,
as
the
country
attempted
to
implement
profound
and
necessary
economic
changes
with
the
least
possible
social
cost,
should
be
a
priority.
To
prepare
for
the
challenges
that
the
country
will
have
to
face
in
the
future,
we
will
analyze
the
economic
situation
in
Cuba
using
a
set
of
indicators
that
will
tell
us
about
the
current
economic
state
of
the
country
and
about
the
social
and
economic
well-being
of
the
Cuban
people
in
the
present
and
recent
past.
Please note that discussion papers are works in various stages of progress and most have not been edited and proofread and may contain errors of fact or judgment. Revised versions of these papers may subsequently appear in more formal publication series. The views expressed in this publication are those of the author(s). The IDE does not guarantee the accuracy of the data included and accepts no responsibility for any consequences arising from its use.