[themartorana]

It's the same in India and other countries I've visited. Trade alone won't help. I realize India and Cuba are apples and oranges, but my point is that significant trade doesn't necessarily trickle down to the poorest.

That said, I do hope it does help some people in Cuba who have fallen victim to unnecessary stresses caused by the embargo.

[Florin_Andrei]

> my point is that significant trade doesn't necessarily trickle down to the poorest

Nothing trickles down to the poorest, spontaneously, almost anywhere in the world.

[mudil]

That's absolutely not true. People live better across the world today than they lived 50 or even 20 years ago. I read statistics somewhere that people in some obscure African country today (can't recall the name) have a living standards of Finland of 20 years ago.

Think about this: the major health issue nowadays across the world is obesity, not hunger.

[adventured]

That's practically impossible.

Finland in 1994 had a very high standard of living. Their GDP per capita in '94 was equivalent to roughly $40,000 in today's dollar.

Maybe Finland of 1914. Nigeria's GDP per capita today, for example, is $3,000.

[mudil]

"the average Botswanan today earns more than the average citizen of Finland did in 1955."

http://www.davidbahnsen.com/index.php/2013/11/10/the-rationa...

I read Scott Ridley's book. And I recommend it highly.

[Florin_Andrei]

You're talking about the longest-term possible scale, which is called progress.

We were talking about everything below that scale.

[afterburner]

The key word was "spontaneously". You have to make sure the money gets there.