Wednesday 7 September 2016

Castro Communism: half a century of economic disaster

Ninetieth birthday Fidel Castro has reopened the debate on the living conditions in Cuba and success (or not) the economic model that have implemented the Castro during his long years in power.
Let 's begin giving some brushstroke to meet data per capita GDP. But unfortunately, the World Bank collects data only from 1970, shows the results harvesting the Castro regime against the freest economies in the world, which lead the Index of Economic Freedom.
Specifically, the table includes Singapore, Hong Kong and Chile , the most free country in Latin America. They began the 1970s in the range of $ 10,000 per capita income (at constant prices, but today, while Cuba still remains well below that level, the rest has overcome that amount more or less slack Singapore is at 2013 above $ 50,000 per capita, Hong Kong is around 35,000, and $ 14,000 in Chile doubled the Cuban average income.
 CUB-EC01.jpg
CUB-EC01.jpg
While it is clear that the Castro regime has not achieved great economic success in recent decades, it can be argued that per capita GDP does not fully reflect the social reality, you would find some other indicator to complement it . For this purpose serves the data of external migration balance provided by the Cuban government itself, which shows that since coming to power in 1959, the Cuban regime has only had three years with positive net migration: the start year of regime in 1959 and the last two in the series, 2013 and 2014.
It should also be noted that these positive three years are not nearly as bulky as those placed in the negative. In fact, the average positive years is only 5,850 people, whereas if we make the average of the years that recorded negative balance that we are at 28,000.
It is clear that a country with such a successful as some would have us believe could hardly reap these terrible official data provided by the Government itself, showing a continuous output of population since Fidel Castro came to power on the island economic model.
CUB-EC02.jpg
CUB-EC02.jpg
Considering these data, some of the defenders of the Cuban regime could end up recognizing this debacle, but using the hackneyed argument of alleged US trade embargo to try to justify its origin.
The reality, however, is quite different. Going back to the World Bank, we can see that, far from there being a lock that prevents trade to the Caribbean island from 1970 to 1990, the weight of the sum of imports and exports on GDP was vastly superior to most of its neighbors both south and north, including the US.
In addition, during those 20 years, trade had a much greater weight in the Cuban economy in Spain. So, we should then consider how it is possible that in a supposedly locked nation, that is, they can not trade, the weight of trade in the economy is higher than in neighboring countries and even in the US, the power that supposedly , run the blockade.
CUB-EC03.jpg

CUB-EC03.jpg
This situation underwent a dramatic change from 1990, when sinking this indicator from 80% to just over 20% of GDP, while the data recorded by other countries increased progressively is this deslome was due to the tightening of the blockade and some claim?
Nothing is further from reality, the Cuban government itself acknowledges that it was the fall of the Soviet bloc in those years which resulted in the loss of 80% of foreign trade of Cuba in that period and not the supposed trade blockade.
That is, it was the collapse of the USSR, the power which subsidized the island by purchasing agricultural products at exorbitant prices, which led to the most severe economic crisis of recent Cuban history, the "special period".
Still, today, the weight of trade on Cuban GDP exceeds 40%, which demonstrates, once again, the effect of such a renowned null blockade.
Cuba is the archetype model to avoid those countries wishing a prosperous future.
Trying to deny the evidence of this failure sound hiding behind absurd and fallacious arguments that do not correspond with reality is not only bad side to increase the chances of another country disaster repeat, but also is a ball oxygen to the Castro dictatorship perpetuated the serious economic mistakes that have plunged Cuba into ruin.
With free market information

No comments: