The basic model for Puerto Rico isn’t working any more
That is the topic of my latest Bloomberg column, here is one bit:
Worse yet, the island has about $123 billion in debt and pension obligations, compared with a gross domestic product of slightly more than $100 billion, a number that is sure to fall. In the last decade, the island has lost about 9 percent of its population, including many ambitious and talented individuals. In the past 20 years, Puerto Rico’s labor force shrank by about 20 percent, with the health-care sector being especially hard hit. The population of children under 5 has fallen 37 percent since 2000, and Puerto Rico has more of its population over 60 than any U.S. state.
And then came Hurricane Maria. According to a recent NYT piece, almost half of American’s don’t know that Puerto Ricans are American citizens.
In my considered opinion, using government money to help Puerto Rico has a much higher humanitarian return than devoting it to the further subsidization of health care.