Cuba's command economy craters

CNN:

Many Cubans thought they'd left behind forever the grim, hungry days that were the norm just after the dissolution of the Soviet Union and, with it, the loss of billions of dollars in subsidies for the Communist state.

But what government officials used to call euphemistically "the special period" has returned, thanks to recent back-to-back visits of Hurricanes Gustav and Ike, which devastated farm production. Now, years after the economic crisis of the 1990s, Cubans are again facing the specter of hunger.

"There isn't a single province or municipality in Cuba that wasn't affected," said Vice Minister of Agriculture Alcides Lopez.

Cubans still receive a monthly food ration, but there's now less to go around.

Authorities say this crisis could last six months.

In response, the government has set price limits and harsh penalties for anyone who breaks them.

The government imposed the price limits just weeks after it raised the price of gasoline by 70 percent, to $5.50 per gallon, which made it more expensive for farmers to get their crops to market.

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"It's a desert," he said, referring to the empty shelves of one market. "There's nothing for sale. The government has adopted fixed prices for farmers at a time when the price of gasoline has gone up."

That means that many of Cuba's most productive farmers -- those who work in part for profit -- can no longer afford to sell their goods, he said.

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The command economy never has worked and it makes things even worse when under stress. Leaders who would rather see their people starve than see someone make a profit are despots locked into a failed ideology. If they would let people make a profit, there would be more production and prices would drop. That is just complicated for the Castro brothers.