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Jessica Emanuel

Mr.Phillips

English 3

4 December 2017

Puerto Ricos Economic Crisis

Hurricane Maria is the last thing Puerto Rico needed. With its already poor and

declining economy, Puerto Rico is in its 11th year of recession and is 74 billion dollars in

debt. It's no surprise that Puerto Rico's economy has gotten as bad as it is. Puerto Rico

suffers from one main thing, the lack of economic growth. In the past decade debt for

Puerto Rico has grown rapidly while its economy had contracted severely. The bottom

line is that if Puerto Rico's economy had been growing they would have been in a much

better position to address the financial issues brought by the hurricane, and might had

been able to avoid them all together. The category 4 storm hit causing major destruction

and sent Puerto Rico even further into debt. Relief effort have been sent to aid Puerto

Rico during this crisis, but it will take months for them, even years to rebuild. With little

to no finances to fund the rebuilding of their country. Puerto Rico's government has

little ability to finance reconstruction of roads, power communications, and other

infrastructures (Hsiang and Houser 3) Puerto Rico's recovery is a long road ahead.

Financial challenges to Puerto rico are nothing new. Puerto Rico had been

experiencing a severe economic decline for decades now. Eric LeCompte, executive

director of Jubilee USA Network says, "Theres no way for Puerto Rico to be able to

rebuild, let alone recover, unless the debt is canceled (Bomey 1). The lack of economic
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growth contributes heavily to Puerto Rico's large amount of debt, In May of this year

Puerto Rico filed for the largest municipal bankruptcy in U.S history.( Gillespie 2)

In hopes to pay back the large amounts of debt collected over the last decade

Puerto Ricos government has made plans to pay debt back over a three year period.

Government had hoped to be able to balance its budget over 3 years by improving

austerity worth over 5% on GNI annually (Puerto Rico Feels the effect of hurricane

Maria 2). In addition to paying back debt Puerto Ricos government also owes large

amounts of money to bond holders, and owes an additional 50 billion dollars to pension

obligations to teachers, and almost all other government employees.(Puerto Rico:

Hurricane Hammers an Economy Gillespie 2).

It is clear that Puerto Rico is in dire need of humanitarian aid. According to an

article written by the New York Times With millions lacking electricity or potable water

avoiding a humanitarian disaster should be President Trump's first priority but these

imminent needs are just the the beginning of Puerto Rico's a long road to

recovery(Hsiang and Houser 1). There has been talk of possible reducing Puerto Rico's

amount of debt, or just erasing it completely. The Federal Emergency management is

providing help relying in part on the 15.3 billion dollars in funding by congress allotted

for the disaster relief (Puerto Rico Feels the effect of hurricane Maria1) Many relief

efforts, supplies, and workers have been sent to aid Puerto Rico in it's a time of need.

Though many relief efforts have been sent to help, the amount of resources, money,

and help Puerto Rico will require in years to come will be expensive, and a long lengthy

process to recovery.
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Puerto Rico's economic decline has caused many people to start migrating from

Puerto Rico to the U.S. The Chicago Tribune writes The biggest economic question is

how can Puerto Rico reverse its out migration? About 400,000 people have left since

2008.(Kaske 2) Puerto Rico has been losing people for years now, after the storm

there will many who want to leave, but dont have the means. Puerto Rico's population

decline may not be as severe as thought to be However the island many not see the

large scale of depopulation that follows some catastrophes. Moving requires

resources.(Puerto Rico Feels the effect of hurricane Maria 2). The lack of population

shift may be in favor of Puerto Rico, but the many that want to leave may not be able to

because of lack of funds. Puerto Rico loses many citizens of its country yearly, Puerto

Ricans who are American citizens have been abandoning the island. At last count it was

losing on net 68,000 a year, which is 1.9% of its population.( Puerto Rico Feels the

effect of hurricane Maria 2). If Puerto Rico has any hope of recovery it will need all of

the remaining people help rebuild and get the county out out of the state of disaster it's

in now.

Regular American citizens are not the only ones concerned over Puerto Rico's

financial struggles. Many of Puerto Rico's finest have been leaving as well, Many high

earners have departed. In the decade to 2016, the number of surgeons and physicians

on the island fell by almost . (Puerto Rico Feels the effect of hurricane Maria 2) .

This leaves the elderly, and the unskilled workers to handle the rebuilding of the county.

With Puerto Rico's people already struggling to make ends meet for themselves, and

having most of its people living at or below the poverty line, the ones who left and dont
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have the means will struggle even more, and in more ways than financial; without

proper medical care, proper education and jobs to support themselves the county will

suffer even more.

It's no doubt that Puerto Rico is in a severe economic spiral. Puerto Rico's debt

has been growing rapidly, and the hurricane just made things 10 times worse. Even with

extra aid and support from the U.S, Puerto Rico many never be able to fully recover.

Relying on the money that comes from tourism and vacations that market will see sever

drop, since the whole island is under severe stress and is still in a state of ruin. Half the

island is still without electricity and running water. Businesses, major buildings, and

resorts, all have to be rebuilt. The enormous amount of debt Puerto Rico has

accumulated in the last decade will be a continued burden on the Puerto Rican

government and puts major stress on Puerto Rico's government on how to handle their

past financial obligations as well as the reconstruction of the island. Puerto Rico may

never see full recovery, but we can do our best to aid Puerto Rico During their time of

crisis, and help make sure that we can better the future of their country.

Work Cited
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Bomey, Nathan. 6 Reasons Why Puerto Rico Slid into Financial Crisis. cnbc.com,

USA Today, 5, Oct, 2017. Web. 14, Nov. 2017.

GIllespie, Patrick. Puerto Rico: Hurricane Maria Hammers an Economy That Can't

Take Much More. money.cnn.com, CNNMoney, 20 Sep. 2017. Web. 14 Nov.

2017.

Hsiang, Solomon and Houser, Trevor. Dont Let Puerto Rico Fall into Economic Abyss.

nytimes.com, The New York Times. 29, Sep. 2017. Web. 15, Nov. 2017.

Kaske, Michelle. Puerto Rico Economic Crisis Grows in Wake of Marias Human Toll.

chicagotribune.com, Bloomberg. 25, Sep. 2017. Web. 16 Nov. 2017.

Puerto Rico Could Feel The effects of Hurricane Maria For Decades. economist.com.

30, Sep. 2017. Web. 15 Nov. 2017.