Will Hurricane Maria Prove to be the Event that Perpetuates Puerto Rico's Problems For a Generation.

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In several blog posts, I've documented Puerto Rico's fundamentally unsound economy (see here, here, and here).  To recap, they are in a depression; there is a fundamental problem with the labor market such that it hasn't reached full employment in decades; there is a net capital outflow from the economy.  If this were not a U.S. territory, the financial press would probably be using phrases like "currency crisis" and "balance of payment" crisis.  

It's been one year since Hurricane Maria hit the island.  It's starting to look as though this event will negatively impact the island in the medium and long term.

1. This video link to CNN shows that Maria is negatively impacting an entire generation. 
2. This story from the Times shows that after a year, the island remains in poor shape. 

Both stories demonstrate that Maria's impact is far, wide, and extremely negative.  Only time will tell, but it could be "the" event that prevents the economy from being anything but a perpetual cycle of poverty and dysfunction.