[Orson]

Puerto Rico - statehood or independence?

The recent vote didn't clarify things: too few people voted in the plebiscite.
(I'm sure statehood, which is where things lean, will not happen unless another new and Republican state emerges to offset the Democrat-dominated one that PR will be in the US Senat [2 seats per state].... There are possibilities like Northern California and Southern Oregon - the state of Jefferson - or else Northern Colorado...someday. But not now.)

I'm sure much is in flux now, only two plus weeks after cat 4 Hurricane Maria. Rebuilding will take years; billions of dollars in relief aid has been authorized, I think.

If you are thinking of going to PR, I would wait until December (or so it had been suggested elsewhere, unless you want to volunteer to work): 95% of electric power is out on the island, and half of the population's water is, too. San Juan will welcome visitors first and soonest, because elsewhere may be primitive for sometime.

It is said that already weak electrical grid - wasted away and neglected like a starved cow - will have to be completely rebuilt. This may take a long time even with new funding.

Trump mentioned purging PRs massive debts on his visit there, this past week. But the President cannot do that. Instead, a board has been set up earlier this year and a Judge will oversee writedowns on bonds of down to 25% of issued value. (Bond values have plummeted this week.)

I trust you know that PR is much like bankrupt Greece in the EU - a beautiful place killed by socialism, debt, and overspending political promises.

If you are thinking about longer term opportunities in PR - such as investment - think next year, next spring and next summer. The situation ought to be clearer by then.

Here's some relevant background from 2015:

Quote:

And as Euro Pacific Capital's Peter Schiff [and Euro-Pacific Dank, a Caribbean bank that moved to PR earlier in 2017] explains, this is far from over--
While Greece is now dominating the debt default stage, the real tragedy is playing out much closer to home, with the downward spiral of Puerto Rico. As in Greece, the Puerto Rican economy has been destroyed by its participation in an unrealistic monetary system that it does not control and the failure of domestic politicians to confront their own insolvency. But the damage done to the Puerto Rican economy by the United States has been far more debilitating than whatever damage the European Union has inflicted on Greece. In fact, the lessons we should be learning in Puerto Rico, most notably how socialistic labor and tax policies can devastate an economy, should serve as a wake-up call to those advocating prescribing the same for the mainland.  
 
The U.S. has bombed the territory of Puerto Rico with five supposedly well-meaning, but economically devastating policies. It has:

1.Exempted the Island's government debt from all U.S. taxes in the Jones-Shaforth Act.
2.Eliminated U.S. tax breaks for private sector investment with the expiration of section 936 of the U.S. Internal Revenue Code.
3.Required the nation to abide by a restrictive trade arrangement.
4.Made the Island subject to the U.S. minimum wage.
5.Enabled Puerto Rico to offer generous welfare benefits relative to income.

While passage of such politically popular laws seems benign on the surface (and have allowed politicians to claim that their efforts have helped the poorest Puerto Ricans), in reality they have deepened the poverty of the very people the laws were supposedly designed to help. The lessons here are so obvious that only the most ardent supporters of government economic control can fail to comprehend them.

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2015-07-16...uerto-rico