Wells Fargo analyst outlines P.R.’s ‘economic failure’

Many argue that Puerto Rico’s problems started when the U.S. government ended the tax benefits for U.S. firms doing business on the island, Alemán said, referring to the end of Section 936.

While saying Puerto Rico is not “America’s Greece,” a senior analyst with Wells Fargo Securities said the time has come for the island to implement drastic change or risk facing an even bigger economic collapse.

In a lengthy document titled “Puerto Rico: Failure of the State,” Wells Fargo Senior Analyst Eugenio Alemán said Puerto Rico’s fiscal union with the United States has lessened the effect of the crisis it has been navigating since 2006, but time is running out.

“Today, what used to be the U.S. fiscal largesse with Puerto Rico is fading fast and this will not change anytime soon. Puerto Rico has to recreate itself within the United States, perhaps as a state, or get its independence from the United States,” he said.

Among other things, Alemán ripp

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Michelle Kantrow-Vázquez

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Business reporter with 30 years of experience writing for weekly and daily newspapers, as well as trade publications in Puerto Rico. My list of former employers includes Caribbean Business, The San Juan Star, and the Puerto Rico Daily Sun, among others. My areas of expertise include telecommunications, technology, retail, agriculture, tourism, banking and most other segments of Puerto Rico’s economy.

mkantrow@newsismybusiness.com