Articles

Labor reform changes, next litigation between the Board and the Government

Limited Government /

In the letter dated July 30, the Oversight Board attached an extensive study by economist Robert Triest in which the negative impacts that Law 41 would have on the economic development of Puerto Rico are summarized. In short, the economic study concludes that Law 41 discourages the hiring of new employees in the private sector and, therefore, Government revenues will be affected. Specifically, the study concludes that Law 41 will cause a decrease in Government revenues of $156 million in the short term and - in the long term - it will cause a reduction of $8.1 billion in revenues. Based on that study, the Board concludes that Law 41 is inconsistent with the Fiscal Plan and violates PROMESA.

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Limited Government
Carlos J. Saavedra
August 19, 2022

The PAN in block, with butter

Individual Liberties /

The ominous disquisitions are already beginning to creep in regarding what the transition from the PAN program, for which Puerto Rico receives $2.5 billion in a block, benefiting more than a million people, to what would be the so-called SNAP, which is the system that prevails in the United States and its territories, thanks to which a substantial increase in aid would be seen, but with one condition: people between 16 and 59 years old, without dependents and able to work, will have to do so, even if it is part-time.

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Individual Liberties
Mayra Montero
August 15, 2022

Educational freedom as a motor of human potential

Individual Liberties /

It is fundamental that citizens be educated in the essential concepts and operation of constitutional government and market economies. This way, people could count on basic knowledge about the functioning of politics and the economy, for better economic decision-making and for when exercising their right to vote. Not having knowledge of these issues limits people to judge ideas, policies, proposals, etc. When people are oblivious to economic and political issues, they are not provided with the essential tools to combat and escape ignorance.

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Individual Liberties
Milton J. Quiles
August 10, 2022

The Jones Act Is Forcing Puerto Rico to Overpay for Energy

Free Market /

That the Dominican Republic sources most of its fuel from the United States while Puerto Rico—a U.S. territory with American citizens—does not (and cannot in the case of bulk LPG and LNG) is an embarrassing absurdity. Such a distorted state of affairs can only be explained by misguided Jones Act protectionism. Let us hope the island can be exempted from this archaic law so it can make greater use of domestic products and realize much‐needed savings to meet its citizens’ energy needs.

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Free Market
Colin Grabow
August 3, 2022

Puerto Rico needs a state-of-the-art labor context

Limited Government /

We need to promote laws that encourage the growth of new companies and ecosystems of innovative services. In the near future, the emerging and vibrant economies will be those that enrich and promote the generation of services based on the talent of human capital. We need to transform the talent market and create a legislative framework that facilitates labor flexibility.

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Limited Government
Nilda Perez Martinez
August 2, 2022

Populism and the economic failure of Puerto Rico

Free Market /

The governments in power (each one for a single four-year term) moved away from the possibility of promoting a long-term economic project and focused on managing the crisis within the political restrictions imposed by the four-year term. Politicians' addiction to taxes and debt to artificially keep the government apparatus alive cemented a narrative that government was essential at the expense of the productive sector. The government itself has created a dangerous spiral of economic contraction with higher taxes and spending.

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Free Market
Gustavo Velez
July 27, 2022
Populism and the economic failure of Puerto Rico

Hayek in The Foundations of Liberty: On Merit, Equality, and Social Justice

Individual Liberties /

The extension of the principle of equality to the rules of social and moral conduct is the main expression of what we commonly call the democratic spirit, and, probably, this spirit is what makes the inequalities that freedom inevitably provokes more harmless.

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Individual Liberties
Martin Krause
July 26, 2022

Florida started penalizing bureaucratic delay. Housing permits spiked.

Limited Government /

Last year, Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) signed a bill that fundamentally changes the state’s permitting process for home building. It requires local jurisdictions to post online not only their permitting processes but also the status of permit applications. The transparency takes a good amount of mystery out of what can be an inscrutable branch of bureaucracy.

Florida started penalizing bureaucratic delay. Housing permits spiked. Read More »

Limited Government
Hayden Dublois
July 25, 2022
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