The Contemporary Experience of Chile, Cuba and China

Relatively few Third World countries have attempted to introduce rapid and profound structural changes of the type with which we are concerned. Three which have are Chile, Cuba and China. For this reason alone their experience is of great interest. Our interest is increased, however, because their experience is so varied. Indeed, they can be regarded as having occupied three distinct points on a continuum. At one extreme is Chile, where the failure to cope with the problems of transition was almost total and the result was a disaster. At the other extreme is China, which successfully combined supply and demand management measures and overcame most of the major problems in her transition to egalitarian development. Somewhere in between is Cuba, a country which was only partially successful in the early years but ultimately learned how to cope with her disequilibrium system.