These numbers seem to be MEAN PPP, not median. Gallup has numbers for several countries showing median PPP, but behind a paywall. For the USA, compare mean and median GDP, never ming PPP and see the difference. And then reflect that half the population is below the median.
Gene > On Mar 16, 2016, at 6:40 PM, Maxim Linchits <mlinch...@gmail.com> wrote: > > Thanks Michael. I looked at those numbers too, and realized that a number > like 7K is not only formally inadequate (who looks at nominal GDP, besides > journalists?) but also unintuitive. But 21K? If we follow the eyeballing > method, the answer will be in eye of the beholder. And I think most observers > would expect to see much more “stuff” for 21K, including cars, computers, > internet access, construction etc. Health and education are highly important > stuff, but there’s lots of other stuff one would expect to see for that kind > of money - unless you live in the US. I’d expect to see much more > consumption, given that Cuba is vastly more egalitarian than the GINI > champions you mentioned. > > So perhaps there is more to discuss. Has anything been written on Cuba’s > national accounting methodology? How accurate is the data on purchasing > power? I remember seeing a paper from the 1980’s on Cuban national > accounting practices, but I assume a lot has changed since then. The most > recent account I could find is “Measuring Cuba’s economic performance” by > Jorge F Perez.: https://books.google.ru/books?id=fqx0BQAAQBAJ I have not read > it yet and I don’t expect this source to give an unbiased assessment, but it > seems to be the only serious study of the topic in print. > > Reducing relatively open capitalist and relatively closed socialist economies > to a common denominator is a challenge worth exploring, but it seems little > has been done on that front since the collapse of the USSR. For what it’s > worth the CIA World Factbook implies that Cuba’s output should be around > 11-12K today. I doubt this figure is the product of painstaking research, or > that the figure even comes from the CIA, but it does not seem implausible. > > > > From: pen-l-boun...@lists.csuchico.edu > [mailto:pen-l-boun...@lists.csuchico.edu] On Behalf Of michael a. lebowitz > Sent: Thursday, March 17, 2016 12:40 AM > To: 'pe...@sus.csuchico.edu' <pe...@sus.csuchico.edu>; Progressive Economics > <pen-l@lists.csuchico.edu> > Subject: Re: [Pen-l] What is Cuba's GDP? [question posed on prog econ list > > A friend who does work on the Cuban economy commented that you should forget > about the official gdp measure and consider only the ppp. He notes that the > WB has > Brazil at about 15, Mexico at 16, Panama at 20 and Chile at 22 (Argentina not > given). And the US is 53 K. When I look at those numbers and consider what > Cubans produce, I find the number of 20 K not at all unreasonable. We could > talk about reducing it to 18 or whatever, that’s more or less irrelevant – > they rank about where they should by what their country produces, compared > to other LA countries. Yes, I know 20 K seems like most Cubans do not have > that in their pocket (and they don’t), but most Brazilians do not ever see 15 > K, most Mexicans do not see 16K, and so on. Of course lots more one could say > and discuss, but that’s the super short form. > > https://lists.csuchico.edu/mailman/listinfo/pen-l > > > > -- > WHILE I AM IN CUBA, PLEASE cc mlebo...@gmail.com FOR PERSONAL MAIL AS THAT > OFTEN IS EASIER TO DOWNLOAD > --------------------- > Michael A. Lebowitz > Professor Emeritus > Economics Department > Simon Fraser University > 8888 University Drive > Burnaby, B.C., Canada V5A 1S6 > Cuba home: 7 832 8189 > Cuba cell: 53 5 476 0553 > > > > -- > WHILE I AM IN CUBA, PLEASE cc mlebo...@gmail.com FOR PERSONAL MAIL AS THAT > OFTEN IS EASIER TO DOWNLOAD > --------------------- > Michael A. Lebowitz > Professor Emeritus > Economics Department > Simon Fraser University > 8888 University Drive > Burnaby, B.C., Canada V5A 1S6 > Cuba home: 7 832 8189 > Cuba cell: 53 5 476 0553 > > > _______________________________________________ > pen-l mailing list > pen-l@lists.csuchico.edu > https://lists.csuchico.edu/mailman/listinfo/pen-l _______________________________________________ pen-l mailing list pen-l@lists.csuchico.edu https://lists.csuchico.edu/mailman/listinfo/pen-l
