"The financial crisis of 1920-1921 and the upwards adjustment of Cuban sugar industry".

Abstract

The crisis of 1920-21 put on end to the rise of sugar production and the rise of prices produced by the First World War. The precedents of the subsequent structural crisis of sugar industry and Cuban economy, as well as the elements that were going to solve that crisis were already visible in 1920-21. Nevertheless, the insular producers responded by increasing sugar exportations in 1922 and then the production in 1925, two years before the first measures limiting the zafra took place. This strategy accelerated and made worse the crisis later on. The bibliographical explanations about this topic are not satisfactory. Our research offers an answer to this apparent contradiction that, besides, leads to some hypothesis to study sugar industry and Cuban economy after the end of the rising cycle of sugar production (1925) and during the crisis of the 30's.