Restoring growth in Puerto Rico : overview and policy options / Susan M. Collins, Barry P. Bosworth, and Miguel A. Soto-Class, editors.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Collins, Susan Margaret.

Bosworth, Barry, 1942-

Soto-Class, Miguel A.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Economic history.

Puerto Rico--Economic policy.

Puerto Rico.

Puerto Rico--Economic conditions--1952-.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (151 p.)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Washington, D.C. : Brookings Institution Press ; San Juan, Puerto Rico : Center for the New Economy, c2006.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

A Brookings Institution Press and the Center for the New Economy publication As a territory of the United States, Puerto Rico enjoys the benefits of key U.S. legal, monetary, security, and tariff systems, and its residents are U.S. citizens. In the decades following World War II, Puerto Rico emerged as one of the world's fastest-growing economies. From 1950 to 1970 per capita income nearly doubled as a percentage of the U.S. average, making the island the richest economy in Latin America. Since the mid-1970s, however, labor force attachment has declined, economic growth has slowed, and the island's living standards have fallen further behind those on the mainland. Today more than half of all Puerto Rican children live below the U.S. poverty level. Why did Puerto Rico's economic progress stall? And more important, what can be done to restore growth? A number of overlapping concerns--labor supply and demand, entrepreneurship, the fiscal situation, financial markets, and trade----are at the heart of its economic difficulties. This is a companion volume to Restoring Growth: The Economy of Puerto Rico (Brookings, 2006), in which economists from Puerto Rico and the United States examine the island's economy and propose strategies for sustainable growth. This monograph summarizes the analyses published in that volume and presents a set of policy recommendations to increase employment, improve education, upgrade infrastructure, and fix government finances. Contributors include James Alm (Georgia State University), Barry P. Bosworth and Gary Burtless (Brookings Institution), Susan M. Collins (Brookings Institution and Georgetown University), Steven J. Davis (University of Chicago), Mar#65533;a E. Enchautegui, Juan Lara, Luis A. Rivera- Batiz, and Orlando Sotomayor (University of Puerto Rico), Richard B. Freeman and Robert Z. Lawrence (Harvard

University), Helen F. Ladd (Duke University), Rita Maldonado-Bear and Ingo Walter (New York University), Francisco L. Rivera-Batiz (Columbia University), and Miguel A. Soto-Class (Center for the New Economy).

Contents:

Introduction / Susan M. Collins, Barry P. Bosworth, and Miguel A. Soto-Class

Economic growth / Barry P. Bosworth and Susan M. Collins

Labor supply and public transfers / Gary Burtless and Orlando Sotomayor

Why don't more Puerto Rican men work? The rich Uncle (Sam) hypothesis / María E. Enchautegui and Richard B. Freeman

Education and economic development / Helen F. Ladd and Francisco L. Rivera-Batiz

The climate for business development and employment growth / Steven J. Davis and Luis A. Rivera-Batiz

Assessing Puerto Rico's fiscal policies / James Alm

Financing economic development / Rita Maldonado-Bear and Ingo Walter

Trade performance and industrial policy / Robert Z. Lawrence and Juan Lara

Restoring growth: The policy options / Barry P. Bosworth and Susan M. Collins.

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references (p. 125-128) and index.

ISBN:

9780815715597

0815715595

OCLC:

899266309