In the United States, we have a minimum wage; Cuba has a maximum wage—$20 a month for almost every job in the country. (Professionals such as doctors and lawyers can make a whopping $10 extra a month.) Sure, Cubans get “free” health care and education, but as Cuban exile and Yale historian Carlos Eire says, “All slave owners need to keep their slaves healthy and ensure that they have the skills to perform their tasks.”

That is from Michael J. Totten’s excellent essay “The Last Communist City” about his recent visit to Havana, Cuba (emphasis in original). If you had to venture a guess, aside from “free” health care, what other forms of non-pecuniary rewards do workers in Cuba receive?

Don’t go spend it all at once!