The Association for the Study of the Cuban Economy (ASCE) is a non-profit non-political organization incorporated in Maryland in 1990. Its mission is to study the elements and processes of a transition to a market democracy in Cuba and to promote consonant scholarship, research, and publications by its members. Particular emphasis is given to economic, financial, social, legal, and environmental issues. ASCE is affiliated with the American Economic Association and the Allied Social Sciences Association of the United States and maintains professional contacts with economists and other experts inside Cuba in furtherance of the Association's objectives.

ASCE's Main Activities

• Annual Meeting held in Miami, Florida. Each August, for two 2 and half days, specialists present papers and participate in roundtable discussions.
• Publication of a volume of Annual Conference Papers and Proceedings. Widely used inside and outside of Cuba by universities, research centers, government agencies, and others.
• Annual prize for best papers on Cuba by university students.
• Web site contains all Annual Papers and Proceedings among other information.
• ASCE-sponsored sessions on Cuba at the annual meetings of the American Economic Association.
• One annual lecture and occasional conferences or seminars throughout the year in Washington, DC; New York and other cities.

Call for Papers New!
ASCE's Twenty Third Annual Meeting: "Reforming Cuba?"

August 1–3, 2013
The Hilton Miami Downtown Hotel
Miami, Florida 33132

Please email your abstracts with "ASCE CONFERENCE 2013" in the subject line to asce@ascecuba.org by April 30, 2013 for consideration in the conference program.

George J. Borjas, the distinguished Cuban-American economist and Robert W. Scrivner Professor of Economics and Social Policy at Harvard's Kennedy School of Government, has agreed to be the keynote speaker at our annual conference in August, 2013. Borjas' work on labor economics, as well as on the economic impact of immigration, promise to provoke an enlightening discussion among conference attendees.

For information on the coming Conference and the last Conferences, please click here »

Call for Papers for the 2013 Student Prize New!

Our membership should reach out to its students and academic contacts to the encourage participation in the ASCE Student Prize. The committee will accept nominations for the 2013 Jorge Pérez-López Student Award Competition until May 20, 2013. Anyone can nominate original papers authored by undergraduate and graduate students in good standing. The papers should address topics related to Cuba's domestic issues, its foreign relations, or Cuba in comparative perspectives. Papers cannot be co-authored with an instructor. At a minimum, all papers must outline a thesis statement, present evidence or data supporting it, confine to 5,000 words double-spaced length, and follow one of the standard academic writing and citations styles. Self-nominations are also welcomed.

For additional information, please click here »

We will appreciate the distribution of this flyer, click here »

ASCE's Ninth Carlos Díaz-Alejandro Lecture New!

Princeton University scholar Alejandro Portes will deliver ASCE's prestigious ninth Carlos Díaz-Alejandro Lecture in New York City on Monday, May 6 at 6:00 p.m. at the New School University. Professor Portes will discuss the key role of governmental and other institutions in Cuba and elsewhere in Latin America and their indispensable role in economic, political, and social development. This year's lecture promises to be particularly timely given recent changes to Cuba's migration legislation, the rising electoral importance of Latinos in the United States, and demographic changes in the Cuban-American community, all subjects which Portes has addressed before. See below for more information on his lecture and on how to register.

"Latin American Institutions and Development: A Comparative Analysis"
by Prof. Alejandro Portes, Princeton University
Monday, May 6, 2013 6:00–7:30 p.m.
The New School, Arnhold Hall, Theresa Lang Community and Student Center
55 West 13th Street, 2nd Floor, New York, NY
Admission is free, but space is limited. Register here »

ASCE in the News

• ASCE president Ted Henken discusses on life TV Jay Z's trip to Cuba from a people-to-people exchange perspective, emphasizing the right to travel and the win-win opportunities it creates. Click here for video »
  
• Ted Henken, our new president, Enrique Pumar, and Sergio Díaz-Briquets, were guests on Talk of the Nation, with Tom Gjelten on National Public Radio in a program on What The Future Holds For Cuba's Economy.
• Sergio Díaz-Briquets observes on recent figures of the Cuban demographic dynamics.
• Rafael Romeu notes on recent initiatives to promote small private enterprises linked to tourism in Old Colonial Havana.
• Jorge Piñón's some implications on the just started exploration of Cuba's offshore oilfields.
• Rafael Romeu's interview on the impact of the US trade and investment embargo on the Cuban economy. October 25, 2011.
• Jorge Piñón's testimony (see minutes 83.05 to 88.36 and then questions later) for US Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources. Piñón examines the status of response capability and readiness for oil spills in foreign waters adjacent US waters. October 18, 2011.
• Given ASCE's work in promoting and delivering an evidence-based policy dialogue on the Cuban economy, it is not unusual to find our membership in the news, and of course, it is rewarding to see that the work of our membership does not go unnoticed. For example, we are proud that our 2011 conference keynote speaker, Prof. Carmelo Mesa-Lago, and long-time members Jorge Pérez-López, Rolando Castañeda and Arch Ritter, were listed as examples of ASCE's analysis by the former Cuban Minister of Economy and Planning José Luis Rodríguez García in a recent issue of Temas (No. 65 Jan-Mar 2011). In the article, the minister respectfully references ASCE at length, including its founding, the work of these four authors, and our annual conferences held in Miami since 1990. Subsequently in the issue No. 66 of Temas, Catalejo, Prof. Carmelo Mesa-Lago disputed some of the points of view of José Luis Rodríguez, and entered into an interesting debate on the subject of what type socialism would be appropriate for Cuba.

ASCE Briefs New!

ASCE has decided to launch its very own blog, a project headed up by Luis Luis and Ernesto Hernández-Catá. The blog is hosted on our ASCE website and features economic analysis by a revolving cadre of ASCE members. Be sure to visit and leave your comments at ascecuba.com/blog click here » Comments are now enabled in the blog and can be entered at the end of each post.

ASCE cosponsored the New School-NYU symposium
on "The Revolution Recodified" that included
both Yoani Sánchez and Orlando Luis Pardo Lazo,
March 15–17, 2013 Recent!

Asce cosponsored the US visits of Cuban bloggers and cyber-activists Yoani Sánchez and Orlando Luis Pardo Lazo. ASCE recognizes the generous financial assistance of the Cuba Study Group in allowing ASCE to act as host and co-sponsor of these historic visits. While Sánchez was able participate in our annual conference last August via telephone from Havana, she made her first trip to the United States in March. ASCE was front-and-center as a cosponsor of "The Revolution Recodified: Social Media and the Public Sphere in Cuba," a three-day symposium held at New York University and the New School in Manhattan from March 15-17. ASCE also co-sponsored a second event, "Cuba and the Digital Revolution", that also featured Sánchez and Pardo Lazo on March 20 at Georgetown University with the help of Eusebio Mujal-León, Georgetown's Department of Government, and a number of student groups whom ASCE hope to tap into as our future members. The Georgetown event was followed by a reception for Sánchez and Pardo Lazo hosted by ASCE member and our former first president Roger Betancourt. ASCE board member María Werlau also organized a visit for Sánchez to the United Nations on March 21, where she spoke to a gathering of international journalists all members of the United Nations Correspondents' Association. A number of ASCE members were also present at the various public events held with Sánchez upon her historic visit to Miami in April 1–4. Indeed, our president Ted Henken worked with the dynamic group of young people who make up Raíces de Esperanza (Roots of Hope) to pull off the hour-long "Tweet-Up" held on April 3 at downtown Miami's Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts.

For more information on "The Revolution Recodified", please click here »

ASCE cosponsored talk by Prof. Carmelo Mesa-Lago
"Cuba under Raul Castro: Economic and Social Reforms and their Effects"
at Miami Dade College (MDC) on Feb. 12 Recent!

To see the video of the event, please click here »

ASCE Conference Session at the American Economic Association 2013 Annual Meetings on the Cuban Economy Recent!

Jan 04, 2013 2:30 pm,
Marriott Marquis and Marina,
San Diego, CA, USA

Presiding: Carlos Seiglie (Rutgers University-Newark)

Papers Presented:

• Cuban Food Consumption during 1966-2010, Bryan W. Roberts (Nathan Associates)
• Cuba: Economic Growth, Aging, and Long-Term Fiscal Sustainability, Andy Wolfe (International Monetary Fund)
• The Use of Socioeconomic Indicators to Estimate PPP Adjusted Income: An Application to Cuba Circa 1959, Luis Locay (University of Miami) and Rita Ray (Gustavus Adolphus College)

Discussants: John Devereux (Queens College) and Roger Betancourt (University of Maryland)

ASCE and The New School's Joint Spring Meeting

A presentation entitled "Cuba: Today and Tomorrow" was offered by Prof. Jorge I. Domínguez on April 18, 2012 at the New School, in New York City.

Jorge I. Domínguez, an acclaimed Cuba and Latin America scholar at Harvard University, discussed potentially transformative changes taking place in Cuba. Following opening remarks by New School president David E. Van Zandt, Mr. Domínguez analyzed recent developments in Cuba and their implications for the country's economy, governance structure, political system, and international relations. New School president emeritus and former U.S. senator Bob Kerry then engaged Mr. Domínguez in an informal discussion of the issues raised in the presentation.

For the Program and the detailed agenda, click here »

ASCE participation in the AEA Annual Meetings 2012

Dr. Luis Locay led the organization of ASCE's annual session on the Cuban economy at the meetings of the American Economic Association. The session took place January 07, 2012 at the Hyatt Regency, in Chicago, IL. Dr. Deirdre McCloskey of the University of Illinois-Chicago chaired the session and gave comments on Locay's paper, entitled "Cuban Household Consumption: An Update." Rafael Romeu presented a joint work with Dr. Andrew Wolfe and Dr. Gabriel DiBella (both of the International Monetary Fund) entitled "Recession and Policy Transmission to Latin American Tourism: Does Expanded Travel to Cuba Offset Crisis Spillovers?" Dr. Oscar Mitnik of the University of Miami gave comments on the paper. Finally, Dr. Wolfe presented another joint paper with Dr. DiBella and Rafael Romeu entitled "Cuba's Evolving Output Gap," which received comments from Dr. Locay.

The session was well attended by roughly a dozen academics and students at the annual meetings. The comments and discussions were lively and largely centered on the data difficulties that are common to studies on the Cuban economy. These three papers take alternative routes to solving these issues, including employing international data to benchmark official Cuban data and correct for potential distortions when assessing the differing aspects of the Cuban economy.