Cuba's Destiny

[James Devine]

Sean Noonan writes: >> The base line for comparing Cuba's political and
economic development isn't Berkeley California.  Given the role of US
imperialism and Cuba's position in the world-economy as an agricultural
periphery a more realistic comparision is between Cuba and Haiti.  Warts
and all Cuba is a much better place to live than Haiti.<<

Brad deLong asks: >Why Haiti rather than Costa Rica, Puerto Rico, or
Mexico? It's certainly the case that if Cuba's alternative destiny after
1958 was that of Haiti (or Guatemala), then Fidel Castro is God's Gift to
Cubans. But I think that Cuba's destiny in the absence of Castro was
unlikely to be that bleak...<

I think Haiti is the wrong measuring rod, since almost every country looks
good compared to Haiti. 

Also, it's a mistake to compare whole countries: for this kind of
comparison, I would compare the poor of Cuba to those in Mexico or
Guatemala or Costa Rica or Puerto Rico. I haven't done a massive study of
these things, but my impression from visiting Cuba, Mexico, and Guatemala
is that if I were poor, I'd rather live in Cuba. As a middle-class
intellectual, I'd rather live in Mexico. But I don't think the relative
quality of a country's economy can be measured using me as the yardstick.
Else Berkeley would be Valhalla. Using the poor as the standard fits with a
generalized Rawlsian view of ethics (and fits with the viewpoint of my
Jesuit colleagues). 

Doug, do you have World Bank or other data indicating the relative lot of
the poor in these countries? I don't have them handy.

Jim Devine jdevine at popmail.lmu.edu &
http://clawww.lmu.edu/Departments/ECON/jdevine.html