Economic and Social Balance of 50 Years of Cuban Revolution

Many journalistic articles and a few academic ones have been published on the occasion of the half century of the Cuban revolution comparing that nation’s economic and social situation in 1958 and 2008. Such exercise is complicated by serious methodological problems that have not been properly analyzed. This essay summarizes the swings of economic policy in the last 50 years; explains the difficulties in comparing indicators at the two historical points and introduces some techniques to cope with them; evaluates with standardized statistical tables the progress, stagnation or reversal in the domestic and external economy as well as in social services; ranks Cuban indicators within Latin America in 1958 and 2008; and summarizes the balance in Cuban economic-social performance. The three general conclusions of the essay are: (1) most economic indicators deteriorated under the revolution; (2) most social indicators improved; and (3) the economic and social situation in 2008 was worse than in 1989.