Articles

Market concentration: source of inflation at the local level?

Free Market /

By 2017, Puerto Rico had fewer registered establishments than each of the 50 states, adjusting for population, implying a higher market concentration in Puerto Rico, on average, than in the United States. These market shares have historically been divided among no more than 4-5 major competitors. Firms in concentrated industries, due to little competition, may raise prices in the face of increases in their costs above what they would rise in a competitive market.

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Free Market
Emanuelle Alemar
June 9, 2022

The states and territories, their domestic migration and the economic liberty

Migration /

Migration is used as a factor to assess the economic freedom of regions, states, and localities. When we investigated the inbound and outbound domestic migration trends of the US, from 2011 to 2019, we found that states and territories where economic freedoms were promoted had higher inbound migrations.

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Migration
Milton J. Quiles
May 25, 2022
The states and territories

Entrepreneurship or populism: the two routes for Puerto Rico

Economic Liberty /

Faced with the failure of the State and with it the ability to finance populist measures, there is no other route than to build a society and an economy based on entrepreneurship and business initiative. Individual freedom and the promotion of self-effort as guiding principles of a new socioeconomic model supposes a complete reengineering of the prevailing thought during the second half of the 20th century and so far in the 21st century.

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Economic Liberty
Gustavo Velez
May 10, 2022

Salinas, sad reflection of Puerto Rico

Rule of Law /

For those of us who have spent years navigating the tortuous planning and permitting process on the Island, it is obvious that there are anti-development visions and forces, of government leadership and with little respect for the right to use and enjoy private property. This vision permeates multiple laws and regulations, including the Land Use Plan. The timidity of our rulers and the lack of a firm public policy for economic development, articulated and based on science, not on electoral fears or on social networks, permeates even the desks of the officials responsible for the evaluation and granting of permits.

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Rule of Law
Rafael Rojo
April 26, 2022

Supply crunch should spur states to pursue licensing reform

Occupational Licenses /

In today’s difficult labor market, it’s important that we remove unnecessary red tape. State legislatures may have good intentions when they pass licensing laws, but they make it more difficult for people to enter professions or start businesses. State governments shouldn’t be making matters worse with unnecessary barriers to opportunity.

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Occupational Licenses
Conor Norris
April 19, 2022
Supply crunch should spur states to pursue licensing reform

The Culture of Sloth: Puerto Rico’s Addiction to Federal Funds

Articles /

Now that Puerto Rico is out from under the crushing weight of gigantic debt, where is it headed? Will it get deeper and deeper into dependence on federal funds, or will it revive economic growth through job-creating private investment? As Heidie Calero, for many years one of Puerto Rico’s top economists, put it in a recent column: Is it Operation Handout or Operation Bootstrap?

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Articles
Alex W. Maldonado
March 31, 2022

Without economic freedom there is no freedom

Economic Liberty /

In recent days there have been events that illustrate reasons why there is no climate conducive to development and help us generate wealth. We live in a society plagued with obstacles to the free exercise of economic activity, which makes it difficult for Puerto Ricans to become protagonists of their economic activities and promoters of benefits for all.

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Economic Liberty
Carlos E. Díaz Olivo
March 27, 2022

The dependency on Federal Funds: government and people

Economic Liberty /

A well-known feature of the Puerto Rican economy, both at the government and individual levels, is its heavy reliance on federal funds. Over the years this dependency has increased considerably for both of them. Thus, Puerto Rico ranks fourth among all jurisdictions with the greatest dependence on federal funds for its tax revenue, with the state of Louisiana ranking first

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Economic Liberty
Juan Castañer Martínez
March 22, 2022

Economic Freedom, Now More Than Ever

Economic Liberty /

The COVID-19 pandemic no more redeemed or justified statist policies than other crises past generations of politicians exploited to advance them, from the Great Depression to the Great Recession to the harrowing disruptions globalization visited upon America’s blue-collar communities. Free enterprise is not the cause of these challenges—it’s the solution.

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Economic Liberty
Kevin Roberts, Ph.D
March 2, 2022
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