The Doing Business in North America report was recently published by the Center for the Study of Economic Liberty at Arizona State University. This year, it included San Juan, Puerto Rico in its findings for the first time (story HERE).
And they promptly ranked them last.
It’s my opinion that this report does terrible damage to the economic potential of the island and uses an unfair scale of considerations in its rankings.
The study cites “getting electricity” and “resolving insolvency” in considering for generating a score, which generates a number for San Juan that is 16 points below the second highest city in Los Angeles.
While proponents of the study (including one organization here on the island) cite raising awareness to the issues that Puerto Rico faces in confining them to that bottom space, anyone that is considering moving a business to San Juan instead has a lingering liability hanging above their head to any potential investors. And any other organizations trying to promote economic potential here in Puerto Rico, now has to explain this poorly thought out study.
The truth is that San Juan’s challenges are already well known. We understand how poor LUMA service is and the challenges aggravated by Hurricane Maria in the island’s financial well being. We didn’t need a study for that.
In simple terms, this is a college kid beating up a smaller child with a broken arm, and then telling everyone else watching the beating that the child needs to learn karate.
While placing Puerto Rico last may be easier than naming another city that has more to offer Arizona State in terms of resources and collaboration, its is a screaming attack on a community trying to find a path to a better state of economic well being.
If you enjoyed this article, you can support the blog below.