Weekly Review

This week’s issue of the Weekly Review focuses on two subjects that at first glance may appear to be unrelated: the reopening of schools and the need to modernize infrastructure in light of climate change, as demonstrated by widespread electricity blackouts in Texas.

Last week the Ways and Means Committee of the U.S. House of Representatives included language in a bill to match Puerto Rico’s spending on an Earned Income Tax Credit. This week we dedicate a special edition of the Weekly Review to this policy program.

This week we analyze the FOMB’s latest plan of adjustment, followed by an update on the status of CDBG-DR funds for Puerto Rico. Finally, we discuss which are the main global tendencies that Puerto Rico must take into account when framing an economic growth plan for the 21st century.

This week we dedicate a special edition of the Weekly Review to a Memorandum that the CNE team prepared for the administration of Governor Pedro Pierluisi. We identify what, in our opinion, should be the new administration’s priorities and recommendations as to how to execute them.

This week we present a brief analysis of president Biden’s first 100 days in office, followed by a piece on the U.S.’ challenge in returning to the international community. Our data snapshot looks at the rate of issue of executive orders of past presidents.

This week we delve into Biden’s Rescue Plan and what it will take for it to be approved by Congress. We go beyond Biden’s plan as well, looking at rescue packages in the European Union and what Puerto Rico can expect in the context of its reconstruction. Finally, we present a piece on municipal bond prices in our data snapshot.

In this first edition of 2021, we first present a memo to the federal government on the priorities for Puerto Rico that they should focus on as the new administration begins its work. We also present a memo to the local designated Housing Secretary on the issue of coronavirus emergency rental assistance for Puerto Rico. Finally, our data snapshot shows the Commonwealth’s cash balance.

This week, the CNE Team has put together a summary of some of the issues we think will be relevant during 2021. We have broken them down into four categories: the pandemic; the economy; the reconstruction; and international trends. We hope you find this summary useful as you plan the year ahead.