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What got the U.S. (including Puerto Rico) out of the depression was winning WW 2 and changing the geopolitics of the world forever.
During the war, there were shortages of supplies, oil, and food in the U.S. and the aid was very limited to all the U.S. territories to support the war in Europe and the Pacific. Once the U.S. was victorious and the rest of the European and Asian powers were broke and their countries destroyed the U.S. pretty much called the shots and the only superpower in their way was the Soviet Union and Puerto Rico benefited greatly during that period but that's another topic.
That Puerto Rican generation that lived Hurricane Felipe that leftover half million Puerto Ricans homeless and their main economy which was agriculture destroyed had to deal on top of that with the Great Depression and WW 2. They had little to no safety nets and welfare programs we enjoy today and they pulled themselves by their bootstraps and re-built Puerto Rico and the future generations in the island.
Today's generation ( a big %, not all) depend too much on the government and have an entitlement mentality that things will fall out of the sky on their lap. I blame that on the federal government and local government for making the population so dependent on them and it has its drawbacks that are obvious.
they used to have a program, not sure if they still do, where you could get a small business grant. it was like 800$ i think. i remember one friend of mine bought a sewing machine and made dresses to sell. not everybody has that entrepreneurial spirit but i think that is a good example of a government assistance program.
they used to have a program, not sure if they still do, where you could get a small business grant. it was like 800$ i think. i remember one friend of mine bought a sewing machine and made dresses to sell. not everybody has that entrepreneurial spirit but i think that is a good example of a government assistance program.
Sounds like the Opportunity Zone program. That program was actually extended to all of Puerto Rico under the recent Federal "Tax Reform". Previously only certain communities were eligible.
Gov. Ricardo Rosselló announced Monday that the U.S. Treasury Department and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) designated Puerto Rico among 18 Opportunity Zones.
The recently enacted federal Tax Cuts and Jobs Act created Opportunity Zones to spur investment in “distressed communities.”
“These zones are created to foster investment in the nation’s disadvantaged communities. New investments in Opportunity Zones can receive preferential tax treatment, which will, in turn, be a boost to our economy,” Rosselló said in a statement.
Under the tax reform law, states, Washington, D.C., and U.S. possessions nominate low-income communities to be designated as Qualified Opportunity Zones, which are eligible for the tax benefit.
i wish i had something to offer to the island so i could take advantage. i still think call centers would work as you'd have the bilingual population in order to serve south/north america - infra issues not withstanding.
Good luck to those coffee growers! But with global warming and the trend towards stronger hurricanes, their coffee trees will be devastated again. They just need to be prepared for periodic tree losses again. But maybe they could build some sturdy buildings what would be tree nurseries in order to keep a stock of young coffee plants for replanting after storms.
Some of you on here might remember me...I lived in San Germán from 2010 to 2012...I haven´t been back to the island since, but I´ll be headed there just before Christmas. While I am so excited to go back and visit, I have to say, I really don´t know what to expect. Even from when I left at the end of 2012, there´s been such a massive exodus and so much economic downturn, it´s shocking. Come to think of it, just about everyone I know there has already left. The exceptions? The most shrewd businessmen, and folks rich enough to let the good times roll. One of my buddies there, his family owns a mattress company, which provides pretty steady business still. They made a killing this past year from families trying to get the hell off the island; they bought almost new furniture and appliances from people desperate to move but with no time to wait around for decent offers. They paid next to nothing, and now they can slowly sell these items at their now fuller mattress stores across the west coast.
A few doctors with private practices are doing ok, and the rich folks who flocked there because of tax breaks are still rollin. Most of my teacher friends have had enough, they´ve either gone to the Mainland or are asking themselves on a daily basis if this is even worth it anymore. The new secretary of the Department of Education is gutting the whole system, closing down good schools and holding classes in flimsy trailers...the fact that she´s a ¨gringa¨ from the outside (albeit one who is highly fluent in Spanish and has family ties to the island) isn´t helping her, though I don´t think people hate her just for that reason.
We can go on all day about how this isn´t as bad as some other storm, but in the end, this is pretty awful. I can think back to 13 years ago and I still lose my composure, I know how these people must feel. My family was displaced from Hurricane Katrina, and in the end, the government did way more for us than they´re doing for Puerto Rico. In fact, the steady Katrina rebuilding turned New Orleans into a thriving place during the Recession. It hurts me to see people doing so badly because of this. I predict though that places like Florida are going to see big, big turnouts this November as well as in 2020...new Boricua arrivals have something to identify with now, watch out. They might be treated as second class citizens on the island, but all that goes away once they´re forced into being part of the Diaspora.
I predict though that places like Florida are going to see big, big turnouts this November as well as in 2020...new Boricua arrivals have something to identify with now, watch out. They might be treated as second class citizens on the island, but all that goes away once they´re forced into being part of the Diaspora.
so this is about politics?......who's fault is it that Puerto Rico is treated as a territory instead of a state when the MAJORITY of Puerto Ricans in the island have REJECTED statehood over and over with their votes or staying home and not voting.
they can move to Florida and finally pay federal taxes and vote Democrat in the elections if they want but how is that going to change things in Puerto Rico?.....we have had Democrat Presidents with Democrat congress in the past and nothing has changed in Puerto Rico. Puerto Rico's economy went from bad to worse under 8 years of Obama. So I don't get by voting back in the democrats in control what is that going to do for Puerto Rico other than more federal dependency and keep the status quo.
Florida is a nice state run by Republicans for decades. That's why there is NO State income tax so people that work can keep more of their money and they have low business tax rate and low regulations so it's easier to open up a business than other states.The Puerto Ricans going to that state in large numbers by putting the same politicians in office that they ran away from in Puerto Rico of higher taxes, higher regulations and a welfare state, Florida doesn't need that.
Florida has the #4 best economy out of the 50 states.....NO state income tax....let's keep it that way.
There´s a reason why Obama went to San Juan in 2011...it wasn´t to carry the zero electoral votes Puerto Rico was going to give him in 2012...believe me, the Puerto Rican community in Florida and elsewhere certainly can and will vote for candidates who have their interests in mind. It´s a vote of non confidence, a direct response to the massive failure in responding to Maria. They don´t have to vote Democrat either...if a Democratic president would have messed it up this bad, they´d come out and make their voices heard as well. In fact, while you choose to equate the economic failure of the island with Obama, it was actually another Democratic president, Bill Clinton who signed the law which would phase out Section 936 and therefore slowly destroy the island economically.
The only real way to turn things around now would be to abolish the Jones Act and make Puerto Rico a paradise for commerce. But alas, colonies don´t get that type of preferential treatment.
1) Obama went to Puerto Rico in 2011 to take political donations from the elite class and corporations in Puerto Rico. He was there for 4 hours, took the money and ate a media noche sandwich with the governor paid by the taxpayers of Puerto Rico and left.
2) To blame the slow recovery in Puerto Rico because of lack of electricity for months because of the corruption by The Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority (PREPA) on the Republicans or Trump is ignorant and being clueless. The federal government gave 3 times the federal aid to Puerto Rico than Texas and Florida and still that wasn't enough to overcome the corruption in PREPA and other agencies in the island.
3) the Island with no power for months slows everything down, it has nothing to do with federal aid.
the FEDS has no authority or say in Puerto Rico's power service and that's the real reason everything took longer for the recovery.
5) Democrats are not going to abolish the Jones Act, Obama supported it, so did Bill Clinton......Hawaii has the Jones Act and Hawaii is in the middle of nowhere in the Pacific and still their economy, commerce and tourism leaves Puerto Rico in the dust.
6) what is the Jone Act?.....it only states that if you are going to transport merchandise or people by air, sea or land between 2 points or more WITHIN the same nation, you must use DOMESTIC transportation and be U.S. Citizens......well ALL Puerto Ricans are U.S. Citizens.
so why doesn't Puerto Rico use the Jones Act to their advantage in those domestic routes?
why doesn't Puerto Rico invest in boats and crew (it could be from the private sector with the government of P..R) to use those domestic routes to bring stuff from the states or stuff from PR to the states ( P.R. hardly produces anything, anyway)
the Jones Act guarantees ONLY U.S. Citizens can use those domestic routes, so why not take advantage of the law? you won't get foreign competition for those routes.
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