“A tropical paradise is racked with bankruptcy then smashed by a killer hurricane. In rides a cavalry of digital evangelists selling hi-tech revolution. Will they save the day?”
“The ONLY exception and the only place on the planet where Trump’s tax plan can’t reach is the US territory of Puerto Rico.”
Read more: http://premieroffshore.com/us-expats-retained-earnings-foreign-corporations-2018/
“Its public school system, organized as a single, island-wide district, is among the weakest in the United States and long plagued by bloated administrative spending. In some age groups, less than 10 percent of students meet federal testing standards.”
“Dozens of entrepreneurs, made newly wealthy by blockchain and cryptocurrencies, are heading en masse to Puerto Rico this winter. They are selling their homes and cars in California and establishing residency on the Caribbean island in hopes of avoiding what they see as onerous state and federal taxes on their growing fortunes, some of which now reach into the billions of dollars. They want to build a crypto utopia, a new city where the money is virtual and the contracts are all public, to show the rest of the world what a crypto future could look like. Blockchain, a digital ledger that forms the basis of virtual currencies, has the potential to reinvent society — and the Puertopians want to prove it.”
Read more: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/02/technology/cryptocurrency-puerto-rico.html
“The U.S. Federal Communications Commission said it had approved the application of Alphabet Inc—the company that runs Google—to provide the service in emergency circumstances.”
“Puerto Rican native and pop star Daddy Yankee delivered what FEMA, and the government of Puerto Rico could not. He gave $100,000 in assistance to feed the people whose homes were destroyed, who were left without power or water after the hurricane struck over a week ago.”
“The U.S. Senate is considering a bill called the Puerto Rico Assistance Act of 2015. It offers minor assistance: a temporary reduction in payroll taxes and a ‘development fund’ of $3 billion. But the real purpose of this bill is the installation of a six-member Financial Control Authority. That authority, if it gets the chance, will rule over Puerto Rico. Completely. What this legislation contemplates is beyond extraordinary; it is essentially the destruction of whatever semblance of genuine democracy currently rules the island. According to the bill, five members will be appointed by the U.S. President. The sixth will be the Secretary of the U.S. Treasury, who will also serve as Chairman.”
http://www.nydailynews.com/opinion/nelson-denis-puerto-rico-democracy-risk-article-1.2498482
“Isn’t it amazing how America’s turn toward empire in 1898 is a gift that keeps on giving? Today, Puerto Rico, one of the colonies the United States acquired in the Spanish-American War, is defaulting on part of its massive debt. Having failed so far to convince its overseers in Congress to permit the colony to declare bankruptcy, the Puerto Rican government is at a loss as to how it is going to cope with a massive debt that it simply cannot repay. The fact that Puerto Rico’s debt problems are a matter for the United States to resolve just goes to show how America’s turn toward empire and intervention in 1898 continues to reverberate negatively today.”
http://fff.org/2016/01/04/let-puerto-go/
“Many American investors bought Puerto Rican bonds over the past five years as we all searched desperately for yield in the face of the Federal Reserve pushing interest rates down to historic lows. Normally, investors understand that higher yields come with greater risks. However, during the past six years of extraordinary interventions by the Fed into all sorts of financial markets, many investors may have decided that those higher yield investments weren’t really all that risky. Puerto Rico’s problems may serve as a much-needed wake up call to investors. As rates rise, capital will move back toward safety and the risk premium demanded of higher risk projects is likely to increase.”
“Hatch and two other Senate committee heads last week introduced legislation to direct as much as $3 billion to Puerto Rico through a newly-created authority that would help oversee the island’s budget. Governor Alejandro Garcia Padilla says the island of 3.5 million residents can’t afford to repay debt built up from years of borrowing to paper over budget shortfalls brought on by its faltering economy. With his government rapidly draining its cash, Garcia Padilla told senators this month that he’s running out of ways to avert a major default. His administration has started diverting revenue earmarked for some securities to ensure that the island doesn’t skip payments on its general-obligation bonds.”