Welcome to Money for the rest of us. This is a personal finance show on money, how it works, how to invest it, and how to live without worrying about it.

I'm your host David Stein. today is episode 499.

It's titled, What Makes an Economy Prosperous?

Spotlight on Cuba and Argentina.

Eight years ago, I visited Cuba for the first time with my son Brett. I had promised him years earlier that if Cuba ever opened that we would go visit it.

That opportunity came in early 2016 after the Obama administration loosened sanctions to allow more Americans to visit the island.

We found the Cuban people incredibly warm and welcoming and very entrepreneurial.

They all had some type of side gig catering toward tourists.

One of the few businesses that the state allowed Cubans to operate,

including the Air B&Bs where we stayed.

We didn't know what we would expect when we arrived in Havana,

would there be a strong military presence, a police state? We didn't see it.

We saw a lot of decay in the buildings. Obviously the cars were ancient

American cars running on Russian engines. Cubans weren't allowed to purchase new cars.

When we think about the Cuban economy back then and now a disaster,

the economy remains primarily state controlled as it has been since 1959 after Fidel Castro and his forces over through the government and established a socialist state.

The major industries, banks, and most businesses were nationalized.

Cuba has been trying to centrally plan their economy for over six decades.

This island of 11 million people where 70 to 75 percent of Cubans work with the state.

Things have gotten worse since 2016,

where there were a lot more Americans visiting Cuba

even though the government in 2021 allowed even more private businesses,

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