Carmelo Mesa-Lago

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Carmelo Mesa-Lago (born August 11, 1934 in Havana ) is a Cuban American economist and Latin America expert .

Live and act

Carmelo Mesa-Lago was born in the Cuban capital Havana in 1934 . His parents are Ana María Lago and Rogelio Mesa. He first studied law at the University of Havana and graduated in 1956 with a master's degree in civil law. After that Mesa-Lago went to Madrid to attend the local university in 1958 his doctor to make. At the same time he obtained a diploma in social security . After graduating, he took up a position as professor of “Labor and Social Security” at the Catholic University of Villanueva and at the Colegio de La Salle in Havana. In 1959 he also became head of the legal department and board member of the Cuban Social Insurance Bank in Havana.

In 1961, Mesa-Lago left Havana and became Professor of Labor Law and Social Security at the University of Madrid . A year later he emigrated to the USA , where he initially worked as a research assistant in the economics department of the University of Miami , where he obtained his master's degree in economics in 1965 . In 1968 he received his PhD from Cornell University in industrial and labor relations. He then began his academic career at the University of Pittsburgh , where he became Assistant Director of the Center for Latin American Studies there and Assistant Professor of the Department of Economics. From 1974 to 1986 Mesa-Lago was director of the center and from 1976 to 1980 professor of economics. From 1980 to 1999 he served at the University Center for International Studies in Pittsburgh. He retired in 1999 and has since been named Distinguished Service Professor Emeritus on Economics and Latin American Studies .

During his academic career, Mesa-Lago taught and researched as a visiting professor at numerous renowned international universities and research institutes, including Oxford University , the Free University of Berlin and the Max Planck Institute for Foreign and International Social Law in Munich. He also advised numerous governments and non-governmental organizations in Western Europe, Asia and Latin America in the field of social security and pension reforms .

Carmelo Mesa-Lago has published over 80 books and 275 academic articles on social security in Latin America and the Cuban economy . They have appeared in seven languages ​​and have been published in 33 countries. Mesa-Lago received numerous academic awards for his research. In private life he is married and has three daughters.

The Cuban government has repeatedly denied Mesa-Lago entry to his home country. After several rejected visa applications and a twenty-year absence, he was last allowed to travel to Havana in 2010 to take part in a conference organized by the Catholic Church at the invitation of Cardinal Jaime Ortega . For a conference in March 2014, also organized by the Archdiocese of Havana , at which he was honored on the occasion of his 80th birthday, Mesa-Lago was not granted entry by the Cuban authorities.

Publications (selection)

Monographs

  • Cuba Under Raúl Castro: Assessing the Reforms (with Jorge Pérez-López. Lynne Rienner Publishers; 2013)
  • World Crisis Effects on Social Security in Latin America and the Caribbean: Lessons and Policies (London, Institute for the Study of the Americas, 2010).
  • Reassembling Social Security: A Survey of Pension and Health Care Reforms in Latin America (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2008).
  • Cuba's Aborted Reform: Socieconomic Effects, International Comparisons and Transition Policies (with Jorge F. Pérez-López), Gainesville: University Press of Florida, 2005.

Scientific papers

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Gobierno cubano negó visa a prominent académico para homenaje en La Habana. In: Café Fuerte of March 21, 2014 (Spanish)
personal data
SURNAME Mesa-Lago, Carmelo
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Mesa Lago, Carmelo (original Spanish spelling)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Cuban American economist
DATE OF BIRTH August 11, 1934
PLACE OF BIRTH Havana