Word: dumonts
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...Dumont concludes that Castro inherited an economy based on under-utilization of land, managed by a weak corrupt bureaucracy that never channeled funds back into Cuban development, and relied on improvisational economic policies. This heritage, Castro has yet to overcome. According to the recommendations which Dumont submitted to Castro after his three trips to Cuba, the author suggested a policy based on national diversification accompanied with regional specialization of crops employing a plan of concentric circles to the capital: perishable fruits and vegetables would grow nearby and sugar in far out regions...
terized by low yield, high costs, poor management and ineffective incentive structure. Dumont concludes that Cuba's economic woes in 1963 were caused by "bad diffusion [information on] techniques of cultivation, insufficient effort, unsound organization of work, faulty pick up of produce, all of these on top of the harm done by the blockade." In 1964, Dumont claims, these problems were accelerated by an overcentralized economy run by a top heavy bureaucracy. As a result, he stresses the necessity of lower level autonomy or, in Karol's phrase, "grass-roots socialist democracy...
...Dumont's neglect of realpolitik as a factor in decision-making leads the reader to believe that blind whim and guerrilla zeal govern Casaros administration. Dumont should have realized that many apparently irrational economic decisions can be understood by other, especially political, criteria: most notably the naive goal-setting which produced last year's sugar harvest fiasco...
This blind spot enables Dumont to gloss over the real angonies of policy decisions. With the effective aid of hindsight he can confidently, even arrogantly, quantify any situation. As predictability is a solid test of analytic accuracy. Dumont could have better conveyed his self-confidence with some forecasts about Cuba's sugar production. Instead he wavers, refusing to commit himself in this controversial area...
...Where he lacks substantiation, he relies heavily on his reputation for authority. For Americans unfamiliar with his works who might not accept his word as truth, his style is both obnoxious and unconvincing. Only his obvious comprehensive understanding of Cuba and its economic problems might soothe them. One wishes Dumont could have accomplished his task with more humility and humanity for his readers...