January 22, 2008
Report: Economic freedom MIA in Cuba
It states the obvious — in Cuba, economic freedom, like freedom in all its other forms, is missing — but a new report from the Heritage Foundation and the Wall Street Journal is useful for how it precisely quantifies how unfree Cuba really is.
"Business freedom, investment freedom, financial freedom, property rights, freedom from corruption, and labor freedom are all weak," the report states. "The Communist government dictates economic policy, all aspects of business are tightly controlled and government-dominated, and the private sector is very small. No courts are free of political interference, and private property (particularly land) is strictly regulated by the state."
In fact, of 157 countries rated, only North Korea is more economically unfree than Cuba.
Other countries worth mentioning are the United States at No. 5 (behind No. 1 Hong Kong, Singapore, Ireland and Australia); Chile at No. 8; Mexico at No. 44; China at No. 126; Russia at No. 134; and Venezuela at No. 148.
Posted by Marc at January 22, 2008 09:59 PM
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Comments
This is the best argument for the embargo. With an unfree economic system, "repressed" is how Heritage calls it, how is trade and commerce with Cuba supposed to liberate Cubans. If they were more free then you could argue that there's a chance that the commerce would help.
Posted by: Henry "Conductor" Gomez ![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.babalublog.com/nav-commenters.gif)
at January 23, 2008 05:49 PM
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