A Free(r) Market in Cuba?
Coming on the heels of Fidel Castro's confession to The Atlantic's Jeffrey Goldberg that "The Cuban model doesn't even work for us anymore," Fidel's brother, President of Cuba Raul Castro, announced that Cuba plans to let go of half a million state workers and lift some restrictions on private enterprise. The AP reports:
Cuba announced Monday it will cast off at least half a million state workers by early next year and reduce restrictions on private enterprise to help them find new jobs — the most dramatic step yet in President Raul Castro's push to radically remake employment on the communist-run island....
Monday's announcement also said Cuba will overhaul its labor structure and salary systems to emphasize productivity so that workers are "paid according to results.
Castro has said repeatedly he is seeking to reform the pay system to hold workers accountable for production, but change has been slow in coming.
Currently the state employs 95 percent of the official work force. Unemployment last year was 1.7 percent and hasn't risen above 3 percent in eight years — but that ignores thousands of Cubans who aren't looking for jobs because wages are so low.
Is Cuba about to experience a quiet capitalist revolution?
MANACEK > Cuba to Obama...
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Aug '10
Re: A Free(r) Market in Cuba?
"Our state cannot and should not continue supporting businesses, production entities and services with inflated payrolls, and losses that hurt our economy are ultimately counterproductive, creating bad habits and distorting worker conduct," the union said.
Wow ... right on. Though I am waiting for Rod Serling to walk out from around that corner over there and squash my happy thoughts. But for what it's worth, it's never too late to do the right thing.
Aug '10
Re: A Free(r) Market in Cuba?
Wow... Sure hope ol' Raul means it.
May '10
Re: A Free(r) Market in Cuba?
More likely, they'll try something between communism and capitalism, as China has done.
Aug '10
Re: A Free(r) Market in Cuba?
I get the impression that this is, in fact, what Raul means -- if he's saying what he means.
Jul '10
Re: A Free(r) Market in Cuba?
"..but that ignores thousands of Cubans who aren't looking for jobs because wages are so low."
So, no wage is better than low wage?
Aug '10
Re: A Free(r) Market in Cuba?
It's instructive, ironic, and more than a little sad, that only a totalitarian government is even capable of laying off 500,000 government employees. In a democratic country the employees' union would retaliate by bringing the government to a screeching halt. Luckily for Cuba, their government employees' "union" is owned by the government.