Author: Grupo CNE

The GAO Report

Recently, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) published a report on Puerto Rico’s debt. The report’s main findings should not be a surprise to anyone. The GAO finds that Puerto Rico’s fiscal crisis was caused by the government incurring significant annual deficits, especially after 2000, and that it used debt to finance them.

The Social Cost of the Fiscal Plan

On April 19, six members of the Fiscal Control Board (FCB) approved the Fiscal Plan for the government of Puerto Rico. In conceptual terms, the Plan consists of implementation of (1) a program of structural reforms; (2) a fiscal consolidation program; and (3) a reconstruction program financed by the federal government.

Steps Towards Energy Transformation in Puerto Rico

The business model for electrical generation companies, including PREPA, traditionally known as “build and grow,” is based on (1) the construction of ever larger and more efficient generating plants using cheap fossil fuels and (2) a constant increase in electrical consumption.

Fiscal Plan 3.0

On February 12, Governor Ricardo RosellĂł presented the third iteration of his Fiscal Plan for Puerto Rico. In general terms, this version of the Plan has three main components: (1) a revision of the base economic scenario taking into consideration the appropriation of federal funds for the reconstruction of the infrastructure destroyed by Hurricane Maria; (2) an austerity plan; and (3) a structural reform program.

CNE Among Top Think Tanks in the World

For the fifth year in a row, Puerto Rico’s Center for a New Economy (CNE) has been included in the most recent edition of the 2017 Global Go To Think Tank Index Report published by the University of Pennsylvania’s renowned Lauder Institute.