by Dan Mitchell | Nov 23, 2025 | Blogs, Socialism
Earlier this year, in Part I of this series, I reviewed some research showing that Cuba’s economic misery is almost entirely the result of socialist policies. The U.S. embargo, by contrast, has had comparatively little effect. Today, in Part II, let’s...
by Dan Mitchell | Aug 25, 2025 | Blogs, Economics, Socialism
I’ve written several articles about the failure of Cuban socialism (2024, 2022, 2021, 2019, and 2016). My leftist friends almost always respond by claiming that U.S.-imposed trade restrictions are the primary reason for Cuba’s terrible economy....
by Dan Mitchell | Sep 29, 2024 | Big Government, Blogs, Economics, Socialism
Since I’m a numbers wonk, I think the most powerful evidence for the failure of Cuban socialism is comparing that nation’s growth (or lack thereof) to what’s happened in Taiwan and (pre-crackdown) Hong Kong. They all had similar levels of...
by Dan Mitchell | Jan 16, 2022 | Blogs, Economics
Back in 2014, I compared the long-run economic performance of Cuba and Hong Kong. Both jurisdictions were roughly equal about 60 years ago. But the data show a dramatic performance gap ever since the communists took power in Cuba, with Hong Kong (which...
by Dan Mitchell | Oct 3, 2021 | Big Government, Blogs, Free Market
Economists of all types agree with “convergence theory,” which is the notion that poor countries should grow faster than rich countries. Though they are usually wise enough to also say “ceteris parisbus,” which means the theory applies if other variables are...
