Tuesday, May 10, 2016

Puerto Rico Harbinger of Things to Come?

These stories fascinate and horrify me.  They all involve politicians over promising in the short run and under-performing in the long run.  Remember what I was just saying about citizens being happy borrowing today and passing the bills on to future generations.  Thoughts?

MSN / NYT PR Harbinger
Wiki Detroit Bankruptcy
CNN Trump King of Debt

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

The Republican Party has just selected a nominee for president who loves debt. What does the leader of the Republican Party do when he has borrowed money he can't pay back?

--Hiram

Anonymous said...

The question I have about local government debt is, "who owes it?" If someone who lives in Puerto Rico can turn himself from a debtor to a creditor simply by moving to the mainland, it's hard to see how this money could possibly connected. It's like the situation with Detroit where residents of the city could relieve themselves of any obligation to pay back Detroit's debt by simply moving to the suburbs.

--Hiram

Sean said...

I don't think Puerto Rico is indicative. Yes, its politicians made some stupid decisions, but they are also hampered by policies imposed on them by the Congress (the Jones Act, 1996 tax changes, etc.).

Anonymous said...

Although Puerto Rico has some unique problems of it's own, there are lots of local governments that are struggling to one degree or another. And all of them have the problem that no one actually is obligated to pay the debt.

--Hiram

John said...

Sean,
Time will tell, here is a bigger list from WP.

Hiram,
I am actually thinking of the MN DFL who wants to take on $1,500,000,000 worth of debt that someone will need to pay back... Like you said, I hope a lot of people don't leave MN.