WCA March 2011

From the americas

Statue of Liberty Image from BigStockPhoto.com Photographer: Marty

WikiLeaks

Education

The unspectacular ‘document dump’ yields a nugget: Cuba’s perennially weak economy is feared on the verge of collapse For all the embarrassment felt in American and other military and diplomatic circles, the great bulk of themore than quarter- million confidential diplomatic cables released to mainline media by the website WikiLeaks beginning 28 th November may be described as inconsequential. One cable, however, squarely in the commercial sphere, is very pertinent to those American companies that have been lobbying Washington for greater liberalisation of the rules governing US trade with Cuba. The cable, sent by the US Interests Section in the Cuban capital of Havana, which Washington maintains lieu of an embassy, was released 10 th December by WikiLeaks. It apparently was written, in February 2010, by America’s chief of mission in Cuba. The cable details a breakfast meeting held by the Interests Section’s chief economic officer with diplomats from some of Cuba’s main trading partners, including China, Spain, Canada, Brazil and Italy as well as France and Japan, both among the island’s big creditors. Warning that Cuba’s economic situation could become “fatal” within two to three years, the cable incorporated the concerns of diplomats – including China’s – that the communist-run country has been slow to adopt reforms. The cable described the Chinese diplomat as expressing “visible exasperation” with Cuba. It said the Chinese were particularly annoyed by the island nation’s insistence on retaining majority control of any joint venture. “No matter whether a foreign business invests $10 million or $100 million, the GOC’s (Government of Cuba’s) investment will always add up to 51%,” the cable quoted the unidentified Chinese commercial counsellor as saying. The Chinese also complained about problems with the repayment of loans, and in particular about a Cuban request to extend the repayment period on one loan from a year to four years. The cable also referred to the Italian diplomats, who cited ❖ ❖ government sources in Cuba to the effect that the country “would become insolvent as early as 2011.” More recently, Paul Haven of the Associated Press, citing President Raúl Castro’s warning that the state can no longer afford to subsidise nearly all forms of Cuban life, noted that “it is no secret that Cuba’s financial situation is increasingly dire.” (“US Cable: Cuba to be Insolvent within 2-3 Years,” 10 th December) Yet, Mr Haven wrote, “[Cuba] has survived the collapse of the Soviet Union, which caused the near-failure of its economy, as well as a 48-year US trade embargo, the retirement of revolutionary leader Fidel Castro in 2006, and countless other bumps along the way.” No doubt the many American companies chafing to do business in Cuba will take encouragement from this resiliency. But they have been cautioned.

‘Stunning’ results for Shanghai show American high-school students, among many others, at a competitive disadvantage

The United States has received disturbing news after a decade of intensive effort to improve its schools. In a new global survey of the scholastic proficiency of 15-year-olds, the results from more than a dozen countries were signifi- cantly better than the statistical average in their areas. United States scores were not. American students were found to be average in reading, average in science, and slightly below average in maths. They are, not to put too fine a point on it, ‘C’ students. This mediocre showing has occasioned deep chagrin, not only in academic circles. US officials said it shows that the nation is slipping further behind its competitors despite years spent seeking to raise performance in reading and maths. Along with a number of other educational reforms, the 2002 “No Child Left Behind” law so dear to the heart of former President George W Bush clearly has fallen short of its aims. Apparently incontrovertible evidence of the unimpressive quality of the American students, who significantly lag their counterparts in several countries in Asia and Europe, was presented in a 7 th December report from the 34-nation Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development. The Paris-based OECD defines its mission as helping governments tackle the economic, social and governance challenges of a globalised economy. Nick Anderson summed up the OECD findings in the Washington Post . He wrote: “South Korea is an emerging academic powerhouse. Finland and Singapore continue to flex their muscles. And the Chinese city of Shanghai, participating for the first time in the Programme for International Student Assessment [PISA], topped the 2009 rankings of dozens of countries and a handful of sub-national regions.” (“International Test Score Data Show US Firmly Mid-Pack,” 7 th December) The OECD testing programme tracks the knowledge and problem-solving abilities of 15-year-olds, and grades the results of its respected PISA test on a 1,000-point scale. The most recent test was conducted in the US from September to November 2009, among 5,233 students from 165 public and private schools, randomly selected. The keenest interest in the report indeed centred on a finding that took the education experts by surprise. Students in the Chinese city of Shanghai handily outscored their counterparts across the world, in reading as well as in maths and science. Strong marks were also reported for Hong Kong. On the maths test, students in Shanghai scored 600; in ❖ ❖ Singapore, 562; in Germany, 513; in the United States, 487 In reading, Shanghai students scored 556, ahead of ❖ ❖ second-place Korea with 539. United States students ‘A Sputnik moment’

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Wire & Cable ASIA – March/April 2011