Event Announcement--Cuba's Economic Model: Continuity Versus Change--CUNY Bildner Center 3 June 2019

(Pix Credit HERE)

I have been focusing on Cuba's economic model in recent work.  My book, Cuba’s Caribbean Marxism: Essays on Ideology, Government, Society, and Economy in the Post Fidel Castro Era (Little Sir Press, 2018). I suggested the critical importance of ideology to the construction and evolution of the Cuban political-economic model. More recently I have suggested the way that ideological premises help shape the Cuban political economic model, constrain the possibilities of itys modification, and shape the way that Cuba approaches even the most critical implementation policies--in this case reintegration into global production orders (Remarks: "The Fundamental Contradiction of Cuban Socialism in the “New Era”: Economic Reintegration Preserving the Revolutionary Moment").

Prominent academics have also been advancing knowledge in this area in important ways. Among them are Carmelo Mesa Lago who has been at the forefront of study of the Cuban economy and its many transformations as it has sought to implement an economic model that changes at the margins with implementation "experiments" and approaches that have varied widely over the course of the last half century. His work has been influential on both sides of the Straits of Florida and continues to drive debate in the field.

And Mario González Corso,  who is is an associate professor at the department of economics and business at Lehman College of the City University of New York (CUNY), where he also serves as director of the Masters in Science in Business Program, and who has done important work on the Cuban tourism sector.

CUNY's Bildner Center has brought these two outstanding academics together for a program touching on these important issues. The title of the program, "Cuba's Economic Model: Continuity Versus Change," considers the effects on the ground of Cuban efforts to navigate between its ideologies and the realities it faces in the current era. 

Information about the program follows.

Cuba's Economic Model:  Continuity vs Change

Monday, June 3, 4-6 PM Room 9204/05 The Graduate Center, CUNY

Toward a New Economic Strategy: Options & Constraints Carmelo Mesa-Lago, Distinguished Service Professor Emeritus of Economics and Latin American Studies at the University of Pittsburgh

Economic changes and continuities in 60 years of revolution. Focus on the centrally planned model (empirical indicators), economic shocks from crisis in Venezuela and (briefly) from president D. Trump policies. Analysis of alternatives advanced by the National Assembly (AANP) and paths to the future. Carmelo Mesa-Lago (Ph.D., Cornell University) has been visiting professor, researcher and lecturer in 40 countries, and the author of 92 books and 300 articles published in 7 languages in 34 countries. Past President of the Latin American Studies Association, member of the National Academy of Social Insurance and of editorial boards of six academic journals. International Labor Organization Prize on Decent Work shared with Nelson Mandela.

Tourism as Leading Economic Sector: Promise & Problems

Since the “Special Period" (early 1990s), tourism has emerged as a central pillars of the Cuban economy reflecting policy measures to promote a sector viewed as strategically vital: the creation of more effective tourism marketing programs, diversification of tourist offerings, expansion of tourist facilities, a modern transportation network, formation of joint ventures with foreign firms, and efforts to attract direct foreign investment (FDI) to the tourism sector. Mario González-Corzo (Ph.D., Rutgers University) is associate professor at the Department of Economics at Lehman College, CUNY, where he teaches graduate and undergraduate courses in economics and finance. He is also an adjunct professor at Columbia University. His research and areas of specialization include Cuba’s post-Soviet economic transformations, the role of remittances in the Cuban economy, and Cuba’s banking and agricultural sectors. Dr. González-Corzo is a contributing editor for the section on Cuban political economy and economics of the Handbook of Latin American Studies (HLAS) published by the Library of Congress. He is also a research associate at the Institute for Cuban and Cuban-American Studies at the University of Miami (FL).

TO REGISTER, send e-mail bildner@gc.cuny.edu