[Review of] Carmelo Mesa-lago, The Economy of Socialist Cuba: A Two-Decade Appraisal

It\u27s not unusual for partisans of opposing viewpoints about Cuba to spark each other to flaming argument, while those who prefer less heat and more light can easily find adventure enough just in following the course of the Western Hemisphere\u27s most important social experiment since the Mexican Revolution. Shouldn\u27t a book about twenty years of post-revolutionary Cuba be exciting, especially when it comes to us from Carmelo Mesa-Lago, Cuban native, an early supporter of the revolution and also an early emigre to the United States, and now, as Professor of Economics at the University of Pittsburgh, one of only a handful of distinguished students of Cuba in this country? His book is a product of a good deal of effort over a long period of time. It is detailed, precise, balanced, and informative. It is easily understood, so that non-experts can profit from reading it even though its wealth of hard-to-get data makes it an indispensable reference work for professional Latin Americanists. It is all this, but it is not exciting