Kent Jones on Ending the US Trade Embargo Against Cuba
Prof. Kent Jones has been following the debate over ending the decades-old US trade embargo against Cuba, recently loosened by President Obama. In “The Coming Boom in US-Cuba Trade” he notes that, before Castro, the US was Cuba’s largest trading partner and its major source of foreign investment. Economic models of trade intensity predict that this will once again be the case when the trade embargo legislation is finally lifted.
The revival in US-Cuba trade and investment will take time, and must first resolve outstanding compensation claims. It will also require internal economic reforms in Cuba that will enable markets to work once again, and allow entrepreneurs to start businesses without government interference. In the end, ending the embargo will boost trade and benefit the US economy. More importantly, it will provide Cuban citizens with the opportunity to work for two things that have eluded them for many years: democracy and prosperity.
Read his Opinion piece, “Kent Jones: Anticipating the forthcoming U.S.-Cuba trade boom”.