Moment of Truth for Puerto Rico’s Economy Looms on the Horizon · Global Voices
Ángel Carrión

Puerto Rico is currently going through one of the worst economic crises in its history. Its public debt reached $70 billion in 2013, an amount that is practically unpayable for the country. The severity of the problem has resulted in Puerto Rico being called “the Greece of the Caribbean” on several occasions.
In this context, Sergio Marxuach, Director of Public Policy for the Center for a New Economy (CNE), a non-partisan think tank dealing with topics related to Puerto Rico's economy, recently wrote an article published originally in the newspaper El Nuevo Día (The New Day) where he reflects [es] upon what awaits Puerto Rico in 2014:
Hemos visto cómo todo lo que parecía sólido en Puerto Rico —los bancos, la propiedad inmueble, la deuda gubernamental— se ha desvanecido en el aire, tal y como advirtiera Karl Marx en 1848. Esto no se debe a una situación coyuntural pasajera, o a que nuestros gobernantes no han sabido utilizar bien los poderes que supuestamente tienen. No. Esta crisis es mucho más profunda y va a requerir en este año que comienza que Puerto Rico tome decisiones de naturaleza moral y existencial.
We have seen how everything that appeared to be solid in Puerto Rico —the banks, real estate, and government debt— has vanished into thin air, just exactly as Karl Marx warned in 1848. This is not due to a passing economic situation, or to our government officials not knowing how to effectively utilize the powers that they supposedly have. No. This crisis is much deeper and it is going to force Puerto Rico to make both moral and existential decisions in the coming year.
The article by Marxuach has been republished on the CNE's webpage and in the online magazine 80 grados [es]. It has also been shared widely on social networks.