ASCE's Twenty Second Annual Meeting

"Where is Cuba Going?"

August 2–4, 2012
The Hilton Miami Downtown Hotel
Miami, Florida 33132

As it has been customary in recent years, our 2012 annual conference will take place on the first weekend of August at the Hilton Miami Downtown Hotel. The Board is expecting ASCE to once again come together and deliver one of the premier academic conferences on the Cuban economy and society. Among many distinguished academics, professionals and policymakers expected to attend this year's conference are Professor Jorge I. Domínguez (Harvard University and ASCE), Professor Richard Feinberg (University of California, San Diego), and Professor Eusebio Mujal-León (Georgetown University and ASCE). We are also working towards bringing Cuba-based economists and scholars to the conference—as in prior years, funded by voluntary donations, not ASCE general member revenues. As occurred last year, we are expecting strong outside participation thanks to the prominence of Cuba's ongoing policy changes and to our outreach efforts. We hope to see all of our membership at the annual conference. More »

CALL FOR PAPERS: If you are interested in participating and presenting your original economic or social research, please send us an email with your proposed abstract to asce@ascecuba.org with "ASCE CONFERENCE 2012" in the subject line, by April 15, 2012 for consideration in the conference program.

Membership Renewal/Application — Conference Registration

Take a moment now to submit online the below single payment form for membership application/renewal and conference registration. Otherwise, download a hard copy here »

Hurry up to take advantage of pre-registration discounts available until July 15!

The 2012 ASCE Biannual Elections NEW!

UPDATE! The nomination process is now closed. Ballots will be arriving soon for those members in good standing for membership year running from July 1, 2011 to June 30, 2012. For inquiries about your membership standing, contact the ASCE Treasurer.

By the end of April 2012, the Association's Secretary will provide members with official ballots, instructions, and information about the candidates. Votes ballots will be received until June 15, 2012.

For more information click here »

ASCE and The New School's Joint Spring Meeting. RECENT!

A presentation entitled "Cuba: Today and Tomorrow" was offered by Prof. Jorge I. Domínguez on April 18, 2012 at the New School, in New York City.

Jorge I. Domínguez, an acclaimed Cuba and Latin America scholar at Harvard University, discussed potentially transformative changes taking place in Cuba. Following opening remarks by New School president David E. Van Zandt, Mr. Domínguez analyzed recent developments in Cuba and their implications for the country's economy, governance structure, political system, and international relations. New School president emeritus and former U.S. senator Bob Kerry then engaged Mr. Domínguez in an informal discussion of the issues raised in the presentation. For the Program and the detailed agenda, please click here »

ASCE participation in the AEA Annual Meetings 2012. RECENT!

Dr. Luis Locay led the organization of ASCE's annual session on the Cuban economy at the meetings of the American Economic Association. The session took place January 07, 2012 at the Hyatt Regency, in Chicago, IL. Dr. Deirdre McCloskey of the University of Illinois-Chicago chaired the session and gave comments on Locay's paper, entitled "Cuban Household Consumption: An Update." Rafael Romeu presented a joint work with Dr. Andrew Wolfe and Dr. Gabriel Di Bella (both of the International Monetary Fund) entitled "Recession and Policy Transmission to Latin American Tourism: Does Expanded Travel to Cuba Offset Crisis Spillovers?" Dr. Oscar Mitnik of the University of Miami gave comments on the paper. Finally, Dr. Wolfe presented another joint paper with Dr. Di Bella and Rafael Romeu entitled "Cuba's Evolving Output Gap," which received comments from Dr. Locay.

The session was well attended by roughly a dozen academics and students at the annual meetings. The comments and discussions were lively and largely centered on the data difficulties that are common to studies on the Cuban economy. These three papers take alternative routes to solving these issues, including employing international data to benchmark official Cuban data and correct for potential distortions when assessing the differing aspects of the Cuban economy.

ASCE in the News

Jorge Piñón's some implications on the just started exploration of Cuba's offshore oilfields.

Rafael Romeu's interview on the impact of the US trade and investment embargo on the Cuban economy. October 25, 2011.

Jorge Piñón's testimony (see minutes 83.05 to 88.36 and then questions later) for US Senate Committee on Energy & Natural Resources. Piñón examines the status of response capability and readiness for oil spills in foreign waters adjacent US waters. October 18, 2011.

Given ASCE's work in promoting and delivering an evidence-based policy dialogue on the Cuban economy, it is not unusual to find our membership in the news, and of course, it is rewarding to see that the work of our membership does not go unnoticed. For example, we are proud that our 2011 conference keynote speaker, Prof. Carmelo Mesa-Lago, and long-time members Jorge Pérez-López, Rolando Castañeda and Arch Ritter, were listed as examples of ASCE's analysis by the former Cuban Minister of Economy and Planning José Luis Rodríguez García in a recent issue of Temas (No. 65 Jan–Mar 2011). In the article, the minister respectfully references ASCE at length, including its founding, the work of these four authors, and our annual conferences held in Miami since 1990. Subsequently in the issue No. 66 of Temas, Catalejo, Prof. Carmelo Mesa-Lago disputed some of the points of view of José Luis Rodríguez, and entered into an interesting debate on the subject of what type socialism would be appropriate for Cuba.

ASCE Briefs

Ernesto Hernández-Catá: Is Cuba's Balance of Payments Position Sustainable?