2002 Events

Cuba in the Human Development Index:
Decline, Rebound and Exclusion

Carmelo Mesa-Lago
Distinguished Profesor Emeritus of Economics and Latin American Studies
University of Pittsburgh

For more than a decade the well known Human Development Index (HDI) have ranked 174 countries in the world, including Cuba, based on socio-economic indicators. Due to the severe crisis of the 1990s, Cuba's rank fell from the 61st to the 89th place in the world. In the 1999 Report, however, Cuba jumped from the 85th to the 58th place, and in the 2000 Report it further climbed to the 56th place. This miraculous leap could not be explained by the incomplete process of economic recovery in the island. Surprisingly, in the 2001 Report Cuba was partly excluded from the HDI due to the "lack of reliable data." Mesa-Lago will follow the evolution of Cuba in the HDI, that nation ranking in the world and Latin America, and explain the reasons for the miraculous Cuban jump and its later exclusion from the HDI.

When: Tuesday, November 5, 2002, 5:00 P.M.
Where: Science Center Room (4102)
The Graduate Center
365 Fifth Avenue
(Between 34th and 35th St.)

To reserve, send e-mail to cubaproject@gc.cuny.edu or leave message at (212) 817-2096