Why Cuban cab drivers earn more than doctors
Summary
TLDRThis video script delves into the peculiarities of Cuba's socialist economy, where professionals like doctors and engineers earn less than taxi drivers due to state-set wages. Post-1959 revolution, the government nationalized businesses, dictating prices and salaries, leading to a stagnant private sector. Scenes from Havana highlight the inefficiency of state-run eateries with empty shelves and overstaffing. The 1990s saw a slow shift with private licenses, allowing some businesses to thrive. However, the system has led to a brain drain, with skilled workers opting for lower-skilled private sector jobs for higher pay. The average Cuban monthly salary is a meager $20, prompting many to seek additional income through an informal market just to survive. Despite recent economic reforms under Raul Castro, increasing private sector participation, many remain skeptical about significant change.
Takeaways
- 🚑 A taxi driver in Cuba can earn more in a day than a doctor earns in a month, highlighting the economic disparities.
- 🏭 Many professionals, including engineers, earn less than those in the service industry due to state-set wages.
- 🌟 The Cuban economy has been heavily influenced by the socialist revolution, leading to state control over businesses and wages.
- 🏠 Post-revolution, the state seized all private businesses and land, and set prices for all goods and services.
- 🍽️ State-owned restaurants and eateries often have empty shelves and are overstaffed, waiting for government food deliveries.
- 📉 The Cuban economy has been in decline since the collapse of the Soviet Union, which previously provided subsidies.
- 📉 Rationing is still in place, with Cubans using government ration cards to obtain basic necessities.
- 🔝 The Cuban government has started issuing private licenses since the 1990s, allowing for a small but growing private sector.
- 🚖 Private sector workers, like taxi drivers, can earn more because their salaries are not state-regulated and can charge higher prices to tourists.
- 🏥 Many highly trained professionals have left their fields for lower-skilled jobs in the private sector to earn a better living.
- 💼 The average Cuban monthly salary is $20, forcing people to find additional income through an informal market just to survive.
Q & A
What was the economic impact of the socialist revolution in Cuba in 1959?
-The socialist revolution led by Fidel Castro resulted in the government seizing almost all private businesses and land, with the state setting prices for everything and deciding how much people got paid. This led to the disappearance of the private sector overnight.
How did the Cuban economy survive after the socialist revolution?
-Cuba survived for many years with subsidies from the Soviet Union. However, after the Soviet Union's collapse, the economy has been getting worse every year.
What is the typical scene in a Cuban eatery according to the script?
-A typical scene in a Cuban eatery includes too many employees in an empty establishment with empty shelves, waiting for food deliveries from the government, and putting in their eight hours to go home.
How does the government's payment system affect the motivation of workers in Cuba?
-Workers in Cuba get paid the same whether they sell one plate of food or fifty, which implies a lack of incentive to work harder or more efficiently since their pay is not tied to performance.
What is the significance of government ration cards in Cuba?
-Government ration cards are used by Cubans to receive their monthly rations from storage houses. They have been a part of the Cuban system for decades and are an indicator of the state's control over the distribution of goods.
What changes did the Cuban government make in the 1990s regarding private enterprise?
-In the 1990s, the Cuban government started giving out private licenses, which fueled a small but growing private sector, allowing for some economic diversification.
How does the private restaurant experience differ from public ones in Havana?
-Private restaurants in Havana offer a different experience with actual movement and good service, as the owners have to sell good food to stay in business, unlike public establishments.
Why do taxi drivers in Cuba earn more than doctors?
-Taxi drivers in Cuba earn more than doctors because they have private licenses, and their salaries are not set by the state. They can charge tourists high prices, which allows them to earn significantly more.
What is the impact of the Cuban economic system on the professional choices of its citizens?
-The economic system in Cuba has led to highly trained workers leaving their professions to do remedial work in the private sector, such as engineers cooking in private restaurants or accountants driving taxis, as these jobs offer higher earnings.
How do Cubans supplement their official salary to survive?
-Cubans often engage in an informal market where they make additional income on top of their official salary, just to survive. This includes selling items like illegal popsicles or newspapers.
What recent changes have been made to the Cuban economy under Raul Castro's leadership?
-Since Raul Castro took over in 2008, the number of private licenses has increased significantly every year, and now 20% of the economy is private, indicating a slow but steady move towards economic reform.
Outlines
🚖 Cuban Economy: The Paradox of Earning More as a Taxi Driver
This paragraph introduces the peculiar economic situation in Cuba where a taxi driver earns more in a day than a doctor does in a month. It highlights the irony that despite being trained as an engineer, the narrator prefers driving a taxi due to the low wages for engineers. The script delves into the history of Cuba's economy post the 1959 socialist revolution, where the government nationalized all businesses and set wages, leading to the disappearance of the private sector. The current state of Cuban eateries is depicted, showing overstaffed yet empty establishments waiting for government food supplies, illustrating the inefficiency of the state-controlled model. The collapse of the Soviet Union, which previously subsidized Cuba, has worsened the economy. The government's rationing system is also mentioned, with citizens using ration cards for monthly food supplies.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Socialist Revolution
💡State-controlled Economy
💡Private Sector
💡Rationing
💡Economic Reform
💡Informal Market
💡Subsidies
💡Private Licenses
💡Brain Drain
💡Cuban Average Salary
💡Black Market
Highlights
A doctor in Cuba makes about $40 a month, less than a taxi driver's daily earnings.
An engineer, despite his training, earns less than a doctor, leading him to prefer taxi driving.
Cuba's economy is characterized by state control over businesses and fixed wages since the 1959 socialist revolution.
The state sets prices and decides wages, leading to a lack of private sector and economic incentives.
The collapse of the Soviet Union's subsidies has worsened Cuba's economy annually.
Cubans rely on government ration cards for basic food supplies, indicating a controlled and scarce food market.
The 1990s saw the Cuban government granting private licenses, fostering a small private sector.
Private restaurants in Havana offer a stark contrast to public eateries with active service and better food quality.
Taxi drivers earn more than doctors due to private licenses and the ability to charge higher prices to tourists.
Highly trained professionals like engineers and nurses are leaving their fields for more lucrative private sector jobs.
The average Cuban monthly salary is $20, forcing people to seek additional income through informal markets.
Cubans engage in informal markets not for wealth but for survival, selling items like popsicles and newspapers.
Since Raul Castro's takeover in 2008, there's been a significant increase in private licenses, with 20% of the economy now private.
Many Cubans remain skeptical about real change due to decades of relying on illegal creativity for survival.
Transcripts
[“A doctor ends up making about $40 a month.
On my worst days driving taxi, I bring in $60--In one day”]
Did you catch that?
This guy makes more in one day than a doctor makes in a month.
And he’s a taxi driver.
He’s actually trained as an engineer but engineers make even less than doctors.
“I like being a taxi driver, not an engineer”
Welcome to the Cuban economy.
Right after the socialist revolution in 1959, Fidel Castro’s government seized almost
all private businesses and land.
[You won’t have to worry about next year.
The state will do your planning from now on.]
Every restaurant, factory, hospital and home was property of the government.
The State set prices for everything and decided how much people got paid.
The private sector disappeared overnight.
[The men in this world desperately need: economic reform.]
You can see the result of this when you go looking for food in Havana.
When I showed up, I was pretty excited to see what street food was on offer.
But all i could find was this.
Everywhere I turned.
This is a typical scene in a Cuban eatery: too many employees in an empty establishment
with empty shelves, just waiting for food deliveries from the government, and putting
in their eight hours so they can go home.
They get paid the same whether they sell one plate of food, or fifty.
This model doesn’t work.
Cuba survived for many years with subsidies from the Soviet Union.
But since its collapse, the economy been getting worse every year.
This lady is showing me her government ration cards that she’s kept for decades.
Cubans use these monthly cards to go the storage house to get their monthly rations.
The government realized this in the 90s and has
started giving out private licenses, fueling a small but growing private sector.
I stumbled upon a private restaurant in Havana that was a totally different experience than
the public ones.
There was actually movement, and good service.
The owners had to actually sell good food if they wanted to stay in business.
Which brings me back to the Taxi driver and the doctor.
The reason a taxi drivers make so much more than doctors is because they have private
licenses.
Their salaries are not set by the state.
And they can charge tourists high prices.
I paid 25 dollars to get from the airport into Havana.
And inn that 30 minute drive, my driver made more than the average monthly salary of a
Cuban, which is $20.
One of the problems with this is that you have highly trained workers leaving their
trade to go do remedial work in the private sector.
This guy is an engineer, but he’s cooking in a private restaurant.
These guys are accountants by trade but make a killing driving around tourists on taxi
bikes.
This woman is a nurse, but she hasn’t been in a hospital in years.
This guy is an electrical engineer but opened up a barber shop in his house and makes ten
times more than he would in his field of study.
Imagine trying to live on the Cuban average of $20 per month.
When you ask them how they do it, they all have the same response.
“Everyone has to do something in addition to their official salary.”
Just beneath the surface in Cuba is a bustling informal market where Cuban’s make an additional
income on top of their official salary, just to survive.
We tend to associate black markets with dangerous activities.
But in Cuba, people sell illegal popsicles, or newspapers — not to get rich, but just
to survive.
But things are slowly changing.
Since Fidel’s brother Raul took over in 2008, the number of private licenses has increased
significantly every year.
And now 20% of the economy is now private.
Still, most Cubans are jaded by the decades they have had to use illegal creativity just
to survive.
“There is one party.
They control everything.
What change could there possibly be?”
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