(Amazing how similar the Puerto Rican situation is to Greece.) Spending and borrowing were always part of the island’s political culture, and Wall Street banks were always more than happy to lend. But having borrowed too much for decades, having spent just as much, having American companies leave after tax incentives expired in 2006, getting hit by the Great Recession and still borrowing more money from Wall Street, no one should be surprised that Puerto Rico is teetering on the brink of financial ruin and draconian austerity measures.
Wall Street firms have already made $1.4bn in fees off of the 86 bond deals Puerto Rico executed to avoid tackling its massive debt problems between 2006 and 2013; firms continued to lend Puerto Rico money despite the risks of a default precisely for the massive profits. But how do you think these firms got the access to sell Puerto Rico a bad deal in the first place? The island’s political class. full: http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/jul/23/politicians-puerto-ricans-debt-crisis-at-fault _______________________________________________ pen-l mailing list [email protected] https://lists.csuchico.edu/mailman/listinfo/pen-l
