With wages averaging $17 a month in Cuba, many of the new goods on sale were out of reach for most pockets, but even some of those who could not afford to buy anything were happy they are now available.
I'm not sure that consumerism should precede facilitating the means to generate income. I've been reading (er, listening to the audiobook of) Yunus - while I think he's slightly off the deep end, the basic tenet that availability of microcredit is one of the most powerful means of creating freedom seems sound. I'd even go one step further and say that risk transfer should be part of it too.
It's a lot easier to increase consumption (see China) than it is to rein it in (see the US), Japan of course being the exception.
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Date: 2008-04-02 02:59 pm (UTC)I'm not sure that consumerism should precede facilitating the means to generate income. I've been reading (er, listening to the audiobook of) Yunus - while I think he's slightly off the deep end, the basic tenet that availability of microcredit is one of the most powerful means of creating freedom seems sound. I'd even go one step further and say that risk transfer should be part of it too.
It's a lot easier to increase consumption (see China) than it is to rein it in (see the US), Japan of course being the exception.