CNE – Centro Para Una Nueva Economía – Center for a New Economy
Non-profit, economic research and policy development organization
A special housing edition dedicated to our founding Chairman, Churchill G. Carey, Jr. We summarize CNE’s research on emergency housing relief, neighborhood change, displacement and short-term rentals five years after Hurricane Maria.
Five years after Hurricanes Irma and Maria damaged over 725,000 homes, Puerto Rico’s housing situation has grown more precarious, with prices up 22% since 2018. We review CNE’s research on FEMA relief, neighborhood change, displacement and short-term rentals.
Billions in federal recovery funds are available, but Puerto Rico lacks the skilled workforce to rebuild. We argue that investing in postsecondary education, including community colleges, is key to growth and to rebuilding the middle class.
With the debt restructuring over, reconstruction funds flowing and the pandemic easing, 2022 offers Puerto Rico the opportunity of a generation. We argue it will only pay off with a real economic strategy, not just incentives and structural reforms.
After 15 years of stagnation, bankruptcy, hurricanes, earthquakes and the pandemic, Puerto Rico has a once-in-a-generation chance to turn its economy around. We assess the favorable trends, the risks and why the island needs a comprehensive economic strategy.
We analyze FEMA Individual Assistance data after Hurricane Maria. Poor households were not underserved overall, but they were left with greater unmet housing needs, and those without clear land tenure struggled to access aid.
Puerto Rico’s energy plans keep natural gas in the mix for at least two more decades, exposing bills to global price swings. Europe’s gas crisis offers lessons, as Spain and the Canary Islands speed up the shift to renewables.
Tax reform is back on Puerto Rico’s agenda. We propose seven principles for a comprehensive reform, from broadening the base and lowering rates to making the system fairer, plus a note on inflation and the war in Ukraine.
