CNE to host annual conference to ‘reimagine Puerto Rico’s future’
The Center for a New Economy (CNE) will hold its annual conference, the Growth Policy Summit 2021, when it will address Puerto Rico’s economic growth from different perspectives with the input of leaders in education, philanthropy, fiscal affairs, and economics.
The Growth Policy Summit will be held Dec. 3 at the Sheraton Hotel in the Convention Center District. After 15 years of stagnation, the bankruptcy of its government, the destruction caused by two hurricanes, earthquakes, and the effects of the global COVID-19 pandemic, “the moment is ripe to reimagine a more prosperous, sustainable and equitable future for Puerto Rico,” said CNE President Miguel Soto-Class.
“Now that we’re going to begin repaying large amounts of money to service the restructured debt, the question that we have been asking for years becomes more relevant,” he said.
“How are we going to make sure the economy grows over the long term? There is a mistaken idea that designing a new economic development model happens instantly with a new incentive, for example. However, economic development is more complicated than that,” he said.
“The organization hopes to foster a conversation on how to achieve economic growth that benefits all sectors in Puerto Rico,” Soto-Class added.
“You can get ten people to become millionaires and that grows the economy, but that does not mean that we are developing the capabilities of Puerto Rican society. We cannot continue down that path,” he said.
The conference will be a forum in which a distinguished group of lecturers, panelists, a master of ceremonies, and the audience will interact.
The agenda and panels include:
- “A grand tour of efforts past; determinants of growth & state capacity: Lessons from Spain;”
- “Can governments learn?: The role of experts and non-governmental actors in helping tackle critical problems;
- The importance of evidence-based policymaking;
- HUD’s commitment to Puerto Rico;
- Policy implications of recent tax developments; and,
- Education as a driver of economic development.
The closing will be a keynote speech by Nobel Laureate in Economics, Joseph E. Stiligtz, titled “How to Achieve Inclusive Growth in Puerto Rico?”
Some of the issues to be addressed at the Growth Policy Summit include:
- How do we get Puerto Rico back on a path toward growth?;
- How do we leverage the reconstruction process?;
- How have the government’s bankruptcy and the COVID-19 pandemic affected our ability to rebound? and,
- How can we finally be successful in charting a new roadmap?
