Profile for Arch Ritter
Archibald Ritter is a Canadian citizen living in Ottawa Canada, married with five children and some grandchildren. He is a “Distinguished Research Professor Emeritus” in the Department of Economics and the Norman Paterson Schoolof International Affairs at Carleton University in Ottawa. He holds a BA in Economics from Queen’s University, an MA in Economics from the University of Western Ontario and a Ph.D. in Economics with a minor in Latin American Studies from the University of Texas at Austin. Besides his employment at Carleton University, he has worked in the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean in Santiago Chile (1973-1974), the Department of Energy Mines and Resources, Government of Canada (1979-1981) and has also lived and worked in Kenya and Tanzania.
He has had a long interest in Cuba beginning perhaps with the chance reading of “Listen Yankee” by C. Wright Mills (an effective piece of propaganda). Or maybe it began with a previous interest in the French Revolution – which ran amok. But maybe the real origin of his obsession with Cuba was that his Father smoked White Owl cigars, which at that time were made from Cuban tobacco but wrapped in Connecticut leaf. For this reason, being in Cuba has always felt like being at home.
He has visited Cuba frequently since 1965. He was an initiator on the Canadian side and was the Canadian coordinator of the Masters in Economics Program provided with the University of Havana for young Cuban professors from 1994 to 1999, financed by the International Development Research Centre and the Canada’s Aid Agency.
He has published a variety of works on Cuba’s development policies and experience including The Economic Development of Revolutionary Cuba: Strategy and Performance, New York: Praeger 1974; Cuba in the International System: Integration and Normalization, (editor), London: Macmillan, 1995; with co-editor J. Kirk; and The Cuban Economy, (editor), Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press, 2004.
Curriculum Vitae, 2010 January 12, 2011
Web Site: www.Carleton.Ca/~aritter
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Some Recent Publications and Presentations Mainly on Cuba and Some Down-Loadable:
Spanish Language Version: EL VI CONGRESO DEL PARTIDO Y LOS LINEAMIENTOS :
¿Un punto de viraje para Cuba? ,Espacio Laical, Suplemento Digital No.132 / 16 de Junio 2011
“Economy: Revolution, 1959-1990” in Cuba: People, Culture, History, Editor in Chief: Alan West-Durán, Editorial Board: Victor Fowler Calzada, Gladys E. García Pérez, Louis A Pérez, Jr., César Salgado, Maria de los Angeles Torres, New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 2011 forthcoming.
“Economy: Special Period and Globalization” in Cuba: People, Culture, History Editor Alan West-Durán, Editorial Board: Victor Fowler Calzada, Gladys E. García Pérez, Louis A Pérez, Jr., César Salgado, Maria de los Angeles Torres, New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 2011 forthcoming.
“U.S.-Cuba Relations: the Potential Economic Implications of Normalization”, in Debating U.S.-Cuban Relations: Shall We Play Ball? Editors: Rafael Hernandez, Jorge Dominguez and Lorena Barberia, New York: Routledge, Forthcoming 2011
Review Article: “Shifting Realities in ‘Special Period’ Cuba”, Latin American Research Review, Volume 45 No. 3, 2010, Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh, 2010
Estados Unidos-Cuba: potenciales implicaciones económicas de la normalización, in TEMAS, Havana Cuba, Special Issue: Cuba-Estados Unidos: tan lejos, tan cerca, Editor: Rafael Hernandez.
“Canada’s Economic Relations with Cuba, 1990-2010 and Beyond,” in Canadian Foreign Policy, SPECIAL SECTION – The Politics of Canada-Cuba Relations: Emerging Possibilities and Diverse Challenges Volume 16, Issue 1 (Spring 2010)
“Cuba’s Underground Economy,” Carleton Economic Papers, CEP 04-12, August 18, 2004
The Cuban Economy (Editor) Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press, Forthcoming, 2004
“Cuba’s Economic Performance and the Challenges Ahead,” February 2002, Background Briefing, RFC-02-1, FOCAL, Ottawa Canada
Also available in Spanish translation as “La dualidad del tipo de cambio en la economía cubana de los noventa”, Revista CEPAL No 57, Diciembre 1995
“La Aglomeracion Minera en Canada; Estrutura, Evolucion y Funccionamiento,” in Rudollf. M. Buitelaar, Extraer Minerales y Producir Desarrollo: Potencialidades y Limitaciones de Aglomeraciones en Torno a la Mineria en America Latina, United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean, Santiago Chile and IDRC, Noviembre de 2001.
Journalistic Publications:
“LIVES LIVED, Allan QUINN,” The Globe and Mail. Monday November 10, 2003, with Bev Quinn.
“Obama, Cuba, and Latin America: Renewal and Reconciliation?” FOCALPoint, November 2008, Volumen 7,Number 8
Is Cuban impasse inevitable? March 12, 2009, Globe & Mail, Toronto Canada
“Cuba’s Bloggers: Is Cuba Relaxing Restrictions on Freedom of Expression?” FOCALPoint, September 2009, Volume 8, Number 6
Thanks for the new blog, I was wondering if you had a story/ summary/ opinion on the much mentioned “Rectification of Errors” period of the Cuban economy that was ended around 1986, I think. It is mentioned a lot but I have not come across many specific details. My understanding of this rectification is that is was abandoned because it threatened govt. control of the economy.
Also, what lessons does this period have for the individuals trying to loosen govt. control of the economy, specifically the agricultural sector.
Arch,
I’m liking your blog more and more each day. Great photo and I like your new “blogroll.”
Hasta Pronto.
El Yuma
Thanks for the new blog, I took some years of reading his articles about our country and always find very interesting, and very objective. I wish to ask you, if these current measures of openness to small businesses, could become a great alternative for foreign investment funds. Until now, it may soon increase the amount of family remittances to be invested in family businesses. You think that the government supports foreign investment in sectors where there is self-employment and may be of interest of the country such as agriculture?
regards.
Daniel Austin
Hello there,
I have been following your Cuban economy blog off and on for about half year now, and have generally felt quite satisfied with it, in terms of it’s more less neutral tone and academic rigor. I do however feel that in the last month or two, the tone has become rather judgmental (in an unhelpful way) unlike in the past. I find this situation unfortunate, and hope there aren’t any ideological motivations behind it, that it simply be a fluke so to speak.
Regards,
Misuta Arukibarudu… (ahem, Dr. Archibald)
Tremendous issues here. I am very happy to look your post. Thank you so much and I am looking forward to contact you. Will you kindly drop me a e-mail?