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Yes that confused me a bit as well... I work for a US-based engineering company and they bill clients 3 - 4x what I earn for my work. Am I misunderstanding some

by nslav 9y ago

Yes that confused me a bit as well... I work for a US-based engineering company and they bill clients 3 - 4x what I earn for my work. Am I misunderstanding something about the article?

mark_edward 9y ago
Yes. It's propaganda.
- curun1r 9y ago
  It's propaganda, but it still points to a system of perverse incentives that the Cuban Government should address. My parents took a bicycling trip to Cuba a number of years ago. Their guide had a wife who was a doctor. He made ~20x what she did because he earned his money by serving foreigners. So in a country that tries to make everyone equal, there are still tiers of wealth and the people in the upper tiers are the ones who are arguably doing the least valuable work for their society. Note that this is a problem not limited to communist countries like Cuba. In America, in particular, we have this problem when it comes to our teachers. Teaching the next generation is one of the most important jobs we have and, yet, the pay is so low that the best people for the job are disincentivized to go into that profession. When a hedge fund manager managing teacher pensions out-earns an entire school faculty who are invested in his fund while underperforming the S&P, we too have a problem.
- wooter 9y ago
  no. it isn't.
wlesieutre 9y ago
If you feel like you're not being paid what you should, you always have the option of starting your own engineering practice instead of letting someone else decide how you get billed out and what cut you get paid. Presumably these doctors don't have that choice; they get what the government says they get and that's that. Of course med school in the US is far from free. Totally different system over there, if you compare a single part at a time of course one of them is going to look terrible.
- nslav 9y ago
  I definitely don't disagree with you regarding the doctors not having any other option. I was just surprised that the article was describing a 4x billing rate to salary ratio as outrageous when in my experience that is typical for the technology industry in the US.
huac 9y ago
I think consulting is a reasonable comparison. Most management consulting firms (Big 3 for sure, and probably Deloitte, Accenture too) will pay for your MBA if you commit to working 2 more years for them. The Cuban government also paid for these doctors' education and is billing them out similarly to consultants. The Cuban people should have more freedom of choice and freedom of movement, but economically, these kinds of arrangements present themselves under capitalism as well.
deleted 9y ago
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by nslav 9y ago

Yes that confused me a bit as well... I work for a US-based engineering company and they bill clients 3 - 4x what I earn for my work. Am I misunderstanding something about the article?

mark_edward 9y ago

Yes. It's propaganda.

curun1r 9y ago
It's propaganda, but it still points to a system of perverse incentives that the Cuban Government should address. My parents took a bicycling trip to Cuba a number of years ago. Their guide had a wife who was a doctor. He made ~20x what she did because he earned his money by serving foreigners. So in a country that tries to make everyone equal, there are still tiers of wealth and the people in the upper tiers are the ones who are arguably doing the least valuable work for their society. Note that this is a problem not limited to communist countries like Cuba. In America, in particular, we have this problem when it comes to our teachers. Teaching the next generation is one of the most important jobs we have and, yet, the pay is so low that the best people for the job are disincentivized to go into that profession. When a hedge fund manager managing teacher pensions out-earns an entire school faculty who are invested in his fund while underperforming the S&P, we too have a problem.
wooter 9y ago
no. it isn't.

wlesieutre 9y ago

If you feel like you're not being paid what you should, you always have the option of starting your own engineering practice instead of letting someone else decide how you get billed out and what cut you get paid. Presumably these doctors don't have that choice; they get what the government says they get and that's that. Of course med school in the US is far from free. Totally different system over there, if you compare a single part at a time of course one of them is going to look terrible.

nslav 9y ago
I definitely don't disagree with you regarding the doctors not having any other option. I was just surprised that the article was describing a 4x billing rate to salary ratio as outrageous when in my experience that is typical for the technology industry in the US.

huac 9y ago

I think consulting is a reasonable comparison. Most management consulting firms (Big 3 for sure, and probably Deloitte, Accenture too) will pay for your MBA if you commit to working 2 more years for them. The Cuban government also paid for these doctors' education and is billing them out similarly to consultants. The Cuban people should have more freedom of choice and freedom of movement, but economically, these kinds of arrangements present themselves under capitalism as well.

deleted 9y ago

[deleted]