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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region Forums'Shrinking, shrinking, shrinking': Puerto Rico faces a demographic disaster
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 islands 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.
more
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
(23,369 posts)... 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
(23,337 posts)I was going to say exactly THIS when I saw the OP.
Madam45for2923
(7,178 posts)Towlie
(5,328 posts)Seriously, what does their voter turn-out have to do with anything?
Madam45for2923
(7,178 posts)Towlie
(5,328 posts)Hopefully they'll come here to Florida and turn it blue.
Madam45for2923
(7,178 posts)to cause them to move to the mainland.
They defeat their purpose.
sinkingfeeling
(51,474 posts)Spanish speaking people will come to the mainland.