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

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 s...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Revista de historia económica 2021-03, Vol.39 (1), p.5-36
Main Author: Devereux, John
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Articles/Artículos
Bias
Castro, Fidel
Consumption
GDP
Gross Domestic Product
Growth rate
Human Development Index
Income distribution
Industrial production
Labor force
Per capita
Purchasing power parity
Society
Standard of living
Welfare
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Summary: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.
ISSN:0212-6109
2041-3335
DOI:10.1017/S0212610920000233