Wednesday, December 15, 2010

Odds and ends

  • The Financial Times on what’s behind the current reform drive: crushing debt service costs.
  • Speaking of debt, here’s a nice deal: South Africa canceled $137 million in Cuban debt and extended $30 million in new credit (Reuters, December 7).
  • AFP: The University of Havana’s law school dean says that new economic policies call for new laws on state enterprises and private cooperatives.
  • Cuba is continuing to import twice the rice it produces; desired production increases have not materialized, and Cuba’s cost per ton is seven times that of the compañeros vietnamitas (EFE, reporting on coverage in Trabajadores.)
  • LA Times: Cuba is launching “Ecured,” a Wikipedia-like site from a “decolonized” perspective, but it’s not working so well so far. I can’t get access to it, and TMCnet.com reports that its problems have been chronic since yesterday’s launch.
  • A Chicago alderman who traveled to Cuba is pushing for the Cubs to play in Cuba.
  • The Economist on rumors that Cuba’s baseball federation “is seriously considering allowing its players to join professional leagues in other countries.”

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

It's good to know that South Africa obviously doesn't need any financial help from rich countries anymore.

Anonymous said...

Great links Phil. Glad to have you back and posting.