Author: Barry D. Wood

Barry D. Wood is a writer, teacher and journalist in Washington, DC. His focus is the global economy and financial markets. He has reported from 60 countries and specializes in US China relations, Eastern Europe and Southern Africa. His 2017 book is Exploring New Europe, A Bicycle Journey.
Barack Obama, communism, Cuba, embargo. classic cars, Fidel Castro, Havana, http://schemas.google.com/blogger/2008/kind#post, IMF, Raul Castro

A Look at Cuba Before Normalization Takes Hold

HAVANA, CUBA: In light of the historic thaw in US Cuban relations announced on December 17th, three items stand out from a four-day visit to Havana:  1/ Cuba’s economy is a disaster in desperate need of reform. 2/ The communist party retains its tight grip and political change is a long way off. 3/It is likely to be months before normalized bi-lateral relations produce real … Continue reading A Look at Cuba Before Normalization Takes Hold

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Australia, Auto industry, competiveness, Ford, General Motors, globalization, http://schemas.google.com/blogger/2008/kind#post, Tony Abbott, Xi Jinping

Globalization and the Australian Car Industry

It’s been a devastating 18 months for the Australian auto industry and its 50, 000 workers. One by one, the country’s automakers declared that without import protection they couldn’t be profitable and had to close. Ford is the first to go.  Its local CEO Bob Graziano observed that Australian manufacturing costs are four times Asian levels and double those of Europe.  Having lost $600 million … Continue reading Globalization and the Australian Car Industry

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Che Guevara, Cuba, Ernest Hemingway, Fidel Castro, Havana, http://schemas.google.com/blogger/2008/kind#post, index of economic freedom, Raul Castro

Cuba’s Dual Currency System Complicates Needed Reforms

Che Guevara, the global icon whose revolutionary image adorns millions of tee shirts, was governor of the Cuban central bank from 1959 to 1961. While stopping short of his fanciful notion of abolishing money, the Argentine-born communist did nationalize all farms and industries, a measure that bedevils the island 55 years later. Cuba’s economy is a wreck. Most of the island’s 13 million inhabitants are … Continue reading Cuba’s Dual Currency System Complicates Needed Reforms

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alan levy, berlin wall, communism, Estonia, http://schemas.google.com/blogger/2008/kind#post, lech walesa, lennart meri, mikhail gorbachev, pope john paul II, ronald reagan, vaclav havel

Missing from the Celebration of Freedom—Two Leaders Who Died Too Soon

BRISBANE, AUSTRALIA:  As the world marked the 25thanniversary of freedom returning to Eastern Europe, it is sad that two of the wisest post-communisleaders are no longer with us. In the extraordinary events that followed the collapse of the Berlin Wall, Poland was the inspiration. It had elected a non-communist government months before the wall came down. Lech Walesa, Pope John Paul II are true heroes … Continue reading Missing from the Celebration of Freedom—Two Leaders Who Died Too Soon

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angela merkel, berlin wall, communism, economic transformation, http://schemas.google.com/blogger/2008/kind#post, IMF, jeffrey sachs, leszek balcerowicz, peterson institute of international economics, ussr

Poland’s Extraordinary Transformation

WASHINGTON:  Twenty-five years ago this autumn two remarkable events took place in Washington. On September 27th, 1989 in the musty embassy ballroom of the Polish People’s Republic on upper 16th Street, Leszek Balcerowicz, finance minister in the new non-communist government, outlined a plan to transform Poland’s economy from communism to capitalism. Shock therapy would be launched in three months. Balcerowicz’s message was breathtaking.  Prices would … Continue reading Poland’s Extraordinary Transformation

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