On Wednesday they declared they are broke. They cannot declare Chapter 9 bankruptcy because technically they are only an United States territory and not a true state.
They will probably not pay back anywhere between $74 and $120 Billion owed to their creditors.
What gets me though is: "American citizens whose per capita income is about $15,000 but who pay $6.25 for a gallon of milk and have an 11.5 percent sales tax."
They actually pay more for milk than Canadians, that is downright crazy. Its also a stern warning to anyone who says we should join the US as a "territory" as a trial run - If you want to pay $8 for four litres of milk and get paid $19,000 Cdn per year - that is the reality of being a US territory.
05-08-2017, 09:53 AM
ee2k
Your statement about being a territory is a stretch. I don't think it's any different than say Mississippi in terms of per capita income (around $20000.) What you have here is an island that will not get all the benefits that all other states would receive in such circumstances. Its geographic location among others do not give it the ability to recover like what other states could.
As far as its statehood is concerned, it's really a place that's been colonized by the US and there is not much being done for it. It's like adopting a kid and showing and reminding them that they are different than your own.
Hard to say if the USA will pay the bill if they end up asking for Billions of dollars. Technically, the US could just say - No we are not going to bail you out - you must garnish the wages of everyone until they are 65, and then take their pensions too.
There are four different classifications of non-statehood. I personally always thought it was an unincorporated state, but Wiki seems to classify it as a member of the US commonwealth (which is completely different than the British commonwealth)
What does not go in Puerto Rico's favour, is that many of the unincorporated islands have been testing grounds for nuclear weaponry.
I will be watching this one very closely as I have a working theory that *only* white people truly ever get to declare bankruptcy, everyone else does eventually have to pay back their debts.
05-11-2017, 07:15 AM
ZenOps
TYT very accurate and informative on this one.
05-11-2017, 08:49 AM
BandW
The Federal Reserve should just buy the distressed debt with money created out of thin air. Problem solved.
