Sometimes, my inner Mr. Spock fails me. (You'll recall him as the analytical, logical, and unemotional character in the classic Star Trek series.) I try to channel him on any analytical work that I do, but my inner-Spock failed me when studying the problem of Puerto Rican bonds.
Puerto Rico is a small country of only 3.5 million people, whose government has issued an astronomical and unsustainable $80 billion in debt. That population is now actually decreasing, as people "desert a sinking ship," most migrating to the U.S. and I don't blame them. But, population or birth rate is what got them into this pitiful condition.
This is a very different situation than Greece, where voters kept voting themselves more and more benefits, until their fast-growing debt crushed their slow-growing economy. The Puerto Rican voters didn't vote themselves too many benefits, except for the luxury of creating too many new Puerto Ricans. Greece can survive by lowering their standard of living to Puerto Rico's current level, but Puerto Rico cannot lower their standard of living without creating empty stomachs.
The short-term solution to the Puerto Rican debt burden is force bondholders, which are mostly hedge funds, to write off some portion of that debt, but how much is enough for island nation to recover? The long-term solution to this problem is to carpet-bomb the country with condoms. They absolutely must control their birth-rate.
I remember listening to a debate about hunting sweet-faced wild deer. One argument was that, no matter how large a land area, the deer will eventually over-populate it. That was why they should be hunted, to control their population growth. That is the case for Puerto Rico -- too many mouths, but it was not Greece's problem. So, the difference must be sociological and not biological, but what is it?
Mr. Spock knows what to do about Greece. Mr. Spock does not know what to do about Puerto Rico, where the human suffering could be too great without U.S. assistance. The decision is not analytical but emotional. Is it our job? They are not a state, but they are a U.S. territory, and their citizens are also U.S. citizens.
Whatever we do, we should require both a balanced budget amendment and free family-planning in the future .
Puerto Rico is a small country of only 3.5 million people, whose government has issued an astronomical and unsustainable $80 billion in debt. That population is now actually decreasing, as people "desert a sinking ship," most migrating to the U.S. and I don't blame them. But, population or birth rate is what got them into this pitiful condition.
This is a very different situation than Greece, where voters kept voting themselves more and more benefits, until their fast-growing debt crushed their slow-growing economy. The Puerto Rican voters didn't vote themselves too many benefits, except for the luxury of creating too many new Puerto Ricans. Greece can survive by lowering their standard of living to Puerto Rico's current level, but Puerto Rico cannot lower their standard of living without creating empty stomachs.
The short-term solution to the Puerto Rican debt burden is force bondholders, which are mostly hedge funds, to write off some portion of that debt, but how much is enough for island nation to recover? The long-term solution to this problem is to carpet-bomb the country with condoms. They absolutely must control their birth-rate.
I remember listening to a debate about hunting sweet-faced wild deer. One argument was that, no matter how large a land area, the deer will eventually over-populate it. That was why they should be hunted, to control their population growth. That is the case for Puerto Rico -- too many mouths, but it was not Greece's problem. So, the difference must be sociological and not biological, but what is it?
Mr. Spock knows what to do about Greece. Mr. Spock does not know what to do about Puerto Rico, where the human suffering could be too great without U.S. assistance. The decision is not analytical but emotional. Is it our job? They are not a state, but they are a U.S. territory, and their citizens are also U.S. citizens.
Whatever we do, we should require both a balanced budget amendment and free family-planning in the future .
