Puerto Rico is at an important crossroad. After emerging as one of the world's fastest-growing economies following World War II, the island's growth has slowed over the past quarter century. Although they are American citizens, nearly half of Puerto Rico's residents lived below the U.S. poverty line at the close of the millennium—and the income gap relative to the mainland was widening.
Restoring Growth in Puerto Rico examines the island's economy and presents policy options for sustainable growth. A number of overlapping issues are at the heart of Puerto Rico's economic difficulties: labor supply and demand, entrepreneurship, the fiscal situation, financial markets, and trade. Here, economists from Puerto Rico and the United States propose a set of policy recommendations to increase employment, encourage private sector development, improve education, upgrade infrastructure, and fix governmental finances.
The chapters in this book summarize original analyses appearing in The Economy of Puerto Rico: Restoring Growth, a much larger book also copublished by the Brookings Institution and the Center for the New Economy. The final chapter appears here in its entirety, presenting policy recommendations and setting out a growth strategy for Puerto Rico.
Contributors: 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), María 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).
Press Release: Scholars Present Study on Puerto Rico Economy to Congress.
Brookings and Center for the New Economy Briefing: Puerto Rico's Economic Challenge, May 25, 2006.
Related title: The Economy of Puerto Rico