How do you Say Chinese Model?

by

If there’s any doubt which road they’re heading down Havana way, the “reform” du jour should help point the direction. “Wage limits” are being abolished in Cuba. There will now be no legal ceiling to what Cubans can earn. Notably missing from the Reuters report is how this is going to work. Just as there is still no indication of how the land distribution is going to operate, ie who is going to get the land and what will they be required to do for it. These reports are a tad short on the mechanics.
The objective here seems to be economic without political reform, a risky proposition with mixed results where it’s been tried.

6 thoughts on “How do you Say Chinese Model?”

  1. This is castroite capitalism. Of course the problem is in the little detail mentioned in the story that the state employs 90% of Cubans. Probably 99% of those that are actually working. That’s called a monopoly. If a worker doesn’t earn what HE THINKS he’s worth, there is no market for him to go out and get it. This story simply means that mid level bureaucrats will have some discretion to give some employees more than others. But since there’s no accountability, the criteria for such raises will probably be capricious and arbitrary. Until they allow privatization of large sectors of the economy this means nothing.

  2. Oh in the Chinese model, they do have a large degree of privatization which so far the regime in Cuba has not moved toward except to grant land to some farmers but the land is not theirs in the sense that it’s their private property.

  3. Raul wants his cake and he wants to eat it too. What Raul is doing is simply [and nothing more] a public relations campaign.
    He is going through the motions without making any real reforms. He knows all too well that the media never scrutinizes Cuba anyway, so that he can get away with practically anything that he does and they will go along with him. This is why he continues to announce all of these lame “reforms” which are meaningless. It’s a PR blitzkrieg to keep the acquiescing media “ohhing” and “ahhing”
    As you note, in a country where there is no private sector, what does it matter if wage limits are abolished, unless the state which hires people decides to give workers salaries that are competitive on a world scale. This is very unlikely, because this would create a powerful middle class. I seriously doubt that the regime will start paying their doctors, teachers, engineers and scientists, etc… real salaries.

  4. I have been touting the Chinese model for Cuba for more than 15 years. Give me some credit where credit is due. I am the world’s greatest Cuban economist. Just read any of my award winning books. Look at me now!

Comments are closed.