CONSUMPTION AND SPENDING

Under Batista, there were huge wealth disparities, and Cuba was a playground for the rich. The 1959 revolution succeeded in reducing the disparities, partly by taking over all businesses, from oil companies to barbershops, and partly by prescribing not only minimum but also maximum wages. Economic regulations have varied since then; for a brief period in 1985, different wage rates were allowed in an attempt to provide incentives for those who work hard, but this decision was reversed in 1986. Economic liberalization in the mid-1990s has created a large gulf between that half of the population with access to US dollars and those left in the peso economy who have to subsist on lower salaries.

From "The Financial Times World Desk Reference" © Dorling Kindersley 2004