The "gains" of the Cuban revolution

The "gains" of the Cuban revolution
Submitted on 14 July, 2009 - 21:06
Cuba

There's a symposium of articles in the latest Against the Current
magazine, published in the US. Apart from Sam Farber's contribution, an
article by Frank Thompson, The Economy After A Half Century explains the
ral limits of the "gains" of the Cuban revolution.
http://www.solidarity-us.org/node/2271

In 1950, Cuba ranked seventh in per capita GDP in (the 47 countries of)
Latin America (and Caribbean)… in 2001, Cuba was the third poorest
country in Latin America as measured by per capita GDP. Only Nicaragua
and Haiti lower.

Cuba's annualized average growth rate of GDP per capita during the whole
1950-2006 period is a meagre 0.80%. During the same period, Latin
America's average per capita GDP grew at a rate of 1.67%. That is,
during this period, Latin American average per capita GDP more than
doubled (to be more precise, increased 161%), whereas Cuban per capita
GDP grew only 58%.

But taking the HDI as a more adequate measure of development than mere
per capita GDP at best allows one to argue that Cuba's position has not
slipped relative to the rest of Latin America. In the first HDI ranking
in 1990, Cuba ranked seventh among the nations of Latin America and the
Caribbean. It remains in the seventh position in the most recent report.

Thompson writes: "On the basis of the best available estimates of per
capita GDP, the Cuban economy has not performed particularly well during
the past half century, either in real terms or in comparison with most
other economies, most saliently other Latin American economies."

The "gains" of the Cuban revolution | Workers' Liberty
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