'Shrinking, shrinking, shrinking': Puerto Rico faces a demographic disaster

[DonViejo]

By Peter Whoriskey October 18 at 7:00 AM

Long before the winds of Hurricane Maria reached Puerto Rico, another disaster had been wrenching and scattering the lives of island residents.

During the decade before Maria, economic decline and depopulation, a slower-moving catastrophe, had been taking a staggering toll: The number of residents had plunged by 11 percent, the economy had shrunk by 15 percent, and the government had become unable to pay its bills.

It already ranked among the worst cycles of economic decline and depopulation in postwar American history, and projections indicated that the island’s slide could continue for years. Then came Maria.

Now, even as officials in Washington and Puerto Rico undertake the recovery, residents are expected to leave en masse, fueling more economic decline and potentially accelerating a vicious cycle.

“We are watching a real live demographic and population collapse on a monumental scale,” according to Lyman Stone, an independent migration researcher and economist at the Agriculture Department. The hurricane hit “might just be the kick in the pants Puerto Rico needs to really fall off this demographic cliff into total epochal-level demographic disaster.”

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https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/shrinking-shrinking-shrinking-puerto-rico-faces-a-demographic-disaster/2017/10/17/21141334-aac2-11e7-850e-2bdd1236be5d_story.html

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

1. If "we" can convince enough Puerto Ricans to leave, ...

... there'll be more land for Trump Resorts, and gated retirement communities.

Real estate investors are probably licking their chops ...



He huffed, and he puffed, ...

[MontanaMama]

2. This.

I was going to say exactly THIS when I saw the OP.

[Madam45for2923]

3. Puerto Ricans in the island have high voter turnout.

[Towlie]

4. I'm sure every one of their zero electoral votes will go to Trump's opponent.

Seriously, what does their voter turn-out have to do with anything?

[Madam45for2923]

5. When they move to the mainland they turn into State's electoral voters though.

[Towlie]

6. Okay, I see your point.

Hopefully they'll come here to Florida and turn it blue.

[Madam45for2923]

8. My point is that in the island they are known to vote in high #s. So it makes no sense 4 Donald/GOP

to cause them to move to the mainland.

They defeat their purpose.

[sinkingfeeling]

7. Wonder if 45's supporters realize that a lot of those brown skinned,

Spanish speaking people will come to the mainland.