A New Development Model?

Claire Berlinski reports from the other half of Hispaniola: Santo Domingo, Dominicana:

Unlike Haiti, the Dominican Republic made a series of wise political and economic decisions. It didn’t cut down all its trees, it made the place safer to visit, and when it built up its economy, it focused on growth industries: drug trafficking, money laundering, and sex tourism. It’s impossible to take a photo in Santo Domingo that doesn’t involve a massive pair of breasts. I try, but the damned things are everywhere. ...

[A]fter living in Turkey, I’m just grateful to be around people who don’t seem driven enough to plot conspiracies or foment coups. I’m aware that the country has seen both, but it doesn’t seem plausible.

Tourism Trouble in the Caribbean?

Expectations are that President-Elect Obama will begin to engage in diplomatic and economic relations with some of the United States' traditional enemies over the next four years. 

Interesting story in today's Financial Times detailing the possible impact on the Caribbean economy if the United States eliminates restrictions on travel and waters down the nearly fifty year old trade embargo on Cuba, the Western Hemisphere's sole Communist (not really) nation. 

"If American tourists, the Caribbean’s biggest group of visitors, were granted unrestricted access to what is potentially the region’s largest tourism destination, a “seismic shift” could hit the region, said Rafael Romeu, an IMF economist who has studied the issue. [...] While Cuba has suffered from strict trade barriers for the past half-century, the rest of the region has benefited as a result. [...] Now, however, they will need to act quickly to prepare themselves for a large loss in what amounts to implicit trade preferences – or suffer the consequences, said Mr Romeu."