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Puerto Rico's government debt was in crisis before the hurricane hit: outstanding bond debt of $70 billion ($12,000 per capita); very high poverty rate; and 10+
by mkempe 9y ago
Puerto Rico's government debt was in crisis before the hurricane hit: outstanding bond debt of $70 billion ($12,000 per capita); very high poverty rate; and 10+% unemployment.
Maybe they could try to become a new Hong Kong in the Caribbean Sea. Rule of law, deregulation, free markets even for power production and distribution. Tourism is a small part of their economy, and never a solid, prosperous plan.
- wallawe 9y agoDon't know why you're being downvoted. This has worked well in Singapore as well. PR already moving in that direction too: if you claim full-time residency or incorporate there (183 days/yr), US citizens can avoid paying lots of different types of taxes [1] https://www.the2022actsociety.org/index.php/tax-incentives https://www.the2022actsociety.org/index.php/tax-incentives
- mkempe 9y agoYes, whenever someone suggests prosperity via free markets and free minds here their comments are downvoted. If PR could become a new Singapore or Hong Kong we would all benefit.
- evanlivingston 9y agoRight, so if there is substantially less tax burden why don't we see rapid development and prosperity?
- johnnymonster 9y agoWhen i visited there last year, and talked to residents, it appears there is a lot of corruption that goes on, which seems to do more harm than good to their economy.
- debacle 9y agoThat's not really the culture of Puerto Rico.
- ringaroundthetx 9y agoSay it like it really is
- ringaroundthetx 9y agoCrime Nobody wants to get started there because theyll get kidnapped and murdered Thats the perception anyway
- Xylakant 9y agoRead up on the Jones Act for example: https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2017/9/27/16373484/jones-act-puerto-rico https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2017/9/27/16373484/j... All shipping to PR has to happen via US companies on ships built in the US crewed with US citizens, increasing the price of any good shipped there (basically everything) Unsuprisingly, not having to pay taxes only offsets that to a certain point for people with somewhat normal incomes. And having rich people move there is of limited value if you basically waive all or most direct taxes.
- Aloha 9y agoAll shipping between US destinations - not all shipping.
- Xylakant 9y agoYes, true, the effect is the same. A ship from overseas passes by PR with goods for the island. It harbors there. It continues to the mainland, now it’s in violation of the jones act since it’s transporting goods between US ports. What are the huge cargo freighters going to do? Unload everything at PR? No. They’ll pass and unload at the mainland.
- SOLAR_FIELDS 9y agoMinor nitpick: they are not technically in violation of the act unless they actually onload cargo in PR, i.e. they could just offload at PR and continue on to mainland. The end result is the same though as merely offloading is not efficient so the ships always go to the mainland instead.
- evanlivingston 9y agoLol
- jabgrabdthrow 9y agoYour comment made me think!
- evanlivingston 9y agoIt wasn't intended to pose a counter argument. Instead it was meant to show that I found that line of thinking to be so blatently laughable as to not merit a counter argument.
- lurker456 9y agoThey have almost no say in what laws and regulations apply there - the US federal govt decides. It's part of the reason why they're in this mess.
- adventured 9y agoIt's not at all accurate, that they have almost no say in their own laws and regulations. They set the majority of their own tax laws for one example (including sales and income taxes), and don't pay federal income taxes. They do pay into Social Security and Medicare, the benefits of which they can claim back later. They set the majority of all criminal laws for themselves. They have their own constitution. They're free to set all sorts of laws how they see fit, so far as it doesn't contradict, for example, the US Bill of Rights. Their ability to set laws is greater than that of the 50 states, meaning they have a wide field to work with.