Canada & Cuba Economic Comparison
Introduction (David)
Cuba and Canada are very different countries. They have different locations, populations, and prioritizations which can all affect how they perform economically.
Both Cuba and Canada are mixed economies with different components. Cuba is a socialist economy with some implemented open-market economy features and Canada is a mixed economy, with private and public ownership of capital and resources.
A more command-oriented economy lets governments take control of social healthcare and important industries, which can be important in the stability of a country. A free market system is based on consumer demand and supply, with little or no government control. Even though these systems tend to have more potential and a higher success rate than planned economies, there are certain risks involved.
Statistics comparison (David)
From the statistics, it can be seen that Canada has a much larger GDP than that of Cuba. Cuba is an island; there is not much space for industry or agriculture. Manufactured parts and oil have to be imported since the cant be sourced locally. Canada's population is 36.5 million as of 2019. Cuba's only 11.48 million. Population contributes to the GDP since there is a larger labor force. Canada's GDP consists of services as well as industry and mining. As a very large country, Canada also has access to oil, wood, and other natural resources which it doesn't have to import. This is why the import/export ratio is so different between the countries, and also one of the reasons the GDP is higher. In the graph below the red line is the imports made by the country annually and the blue line is the exports. While Canada's export/import ratio is more balanced, Cuba has much higher imports.
Cuba-
Canada-
Trade (David)
Export Canada-
Import Cuba-
Import Canada-
Export Cuba-
By using the tables above we can compare the International trade of both countries, the items that they import and export and their worth. Both of the countries are located near the U.S and through the proximity and economic strength, it should be one of the main trading partners of both countries. This is only the case with Canada though. Due to the American embargo on Cuba, there is no trade between the countries. The U.S is one of Canada's largest trading partners, providing for 73% of exports and 46% of imports. Cuba's trading partners consist mostly of China, Spain, Germany, and Russia. To these countries, Cuba exports sugar, rolled tobacco, hard liquors, metals, and other foodstuffs. It imports items that are hard to source locally; vegetable products, animal products, machines, vehicles and chemical products.
Most of Canada's exports consist of minerals, metals, and vehicles, as said a lot of its GDP is comprised of industry and manufacturing.
Country Relations (Jonah)
Canada has the seventh-largest economy in the world. The Canadian economy is diverse and highly developed. In the aftermath of World War II, the nation was transformed from a rural economy, based on agriculture, to one based on industry and mining. The nation's economy has been further transformed since the 1970s and services now provide the main economic output. Canada had the 10 largest GDP.
Canada mainly relies on trade. They made 420 billion dollars compared to Cuba s 5 billion dollars made. Canada uses its mineral resources and mechanical parts to sell to its biggest investors and partners in trade, China and the USA.
The average family in Canada makes around 22,000 dollars a month according to CBC. And the statistics keep on rising. As of this year Canadas average dept loan is 3.6 percent, for most Canadians these are really good numbers for the Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who is making a very big impact and on many lives.
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In Cuba is a lot different the average Cuban makes around 25 dollars a month. This is something very frightening as well as shocking to many around the world. Many go to jail because life their would be better than in the real world.
Canada were your home instead of Cuba...
be 2.6 times more likely to be unemployed
use 11.6 times more electricity
spend 10.3 times more money on health care
be 76.86% less likely to be in prison
be 70.21% less likely to be murdered
be 3 times more likely to have HIV/AIDS
In the text above you are able to understand Cuba and Canadas Comparisons more easily. The information shows that Canada is a much healthier living space than Cuba. 76.86 less likely to be in prison. That tells a lot about the countries people and government.
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Canada's Budget is 690 billion dollars where as Cubas is only 47.78 billion dollars. Canada is able to provide a lot more resources for the people of the country allowing less crime and violence to occur. But do to this a lot more money is spent on Health Care and supplies.
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Inequality (David)
Socialist-oriented economies are designed to reduce inequalities, yet usually, the execution doesn't quite work. There are no official statistics to Cuba's inequality (like the Gini coefficient) but it can be seen that there is quite a large equality gap. Cuba's literacy rate is 99.75%: one of the highest in the world. Yet a private taxi driver makes 11 times as much as a surgeon in Cuba.
Canada's Gini index is 31which is not great but still better than Cubas. Inequality in open-market economies depends on the success of each individual, which can be a large problem if education is not sufficient in that country. Canada has quite a high education level with a literacy rate of 99%.
Conclusion (David)
Cuba's and Canada's economy are very different. Cuba is a socialist-oriented economy with parts of a free market economy implemented. Canada is a mixed economy with several components of different economic systems. Canada, with a much higher GDP, population and trade is the richer country of the two. Canada's GDP consists mostly of industry, manufacturing and services. Cuba's GDP is mostly from tourism (services) and a bit of trade.
As seen in the economic analysis of Cuba, it has a much larger import/export ratio than Canada. This is due to the fact that Cuba is an island with no access to resources or space for manufacture. Inequality is prominent in both countries, but it is worse in Cuba. Education rates are surprisingly higher in Cuba than in Canada, which is one of the benefits of a socialistic economy.
Cuba dealt with a large economic crisis, after the revolution from which it has been recovering. Canada has been mostly unaffected by any economic shocks and only received small problems following the 2008 economic crisis. I think if Canada was put in the same situation as Cuba, it would have taken much longer to recover and gone into much greater debt.
Overall I think Canada is the economy that works better out of the two; the country is richer, has less inequality and a higher HDI than Cuba. Cuba like many socialist economies has a lot of potential. It is more resistant to economic shocks and if it was lead correctly could be a self-sustainable country. Cuba has experienced a lot of economic issues in its time and the ideas of socialist economies are great, but usually, the execution fails. This is why I think Canada is a more sustainable and thriving economy than Cuba.