Posted on 05/14/2016 10:18:41 AM PDT by ChessExpert
Puerto Rico started going downhill after they kicked the US Navy out of Vieques. Coincidence? I think not.
It couldn’t have helped.
One woman I knew complained that some states received more federal dollars than others. She just had numbers. I told her that she had to look deeper. I gave her an example with which I was familiar.
Congress and the military services were conducting base realignment and closure (BRAC) meetings. Huntsville AL lobbied vigorously to receive added missions, putting their best foot forward, explaining that the cost of living was low, schools good, the community welcoming, etc. Having someone meet delegates at the airport doesn’t hurt, nor did having scheduled presentations by the Mayor, General Officers, and a member of the US Congress. St. Louis, MO, by contrast adopted the attitude “whatever.” Was it “unfair” for mission work to leave St. Louis and go to Huntsville? I don’t think so.
That couldn’t have helped.
Just getting Vieques back would be progress.
Because it’s an island full of lazy gib-me-dats.
They’re all over Florida and the SE now.
That’s interesting information, yet perhaps not so easy to interpret. A $100,000 outlay for, say 20 years of labor, is only $5,000 per year. There was also food and housing. It would probably come primarily from slave labor, but would reduce work hours dedicated to the production of revenue from the sale of cotton, etc. All in all, I think we are talking of outlays that are far less than the current minimum wage.
I have an in-law who received a bonus last year in excess of $100,000. That is on top of his annual salary. He is an engineer who likes his work. I’m sure his employer knows he likes the work, but they’ve decided not to rely on intrinsic job satisfaction to keep him happy - and working for them.
Puerto Rico is in trouble because it’s full of Puerto Ricans.
Mrs. AV
Yep.
Mrs. AV
Consider $100,000 as the NPV (net present value) of a worker, where you have to not only consider wage outlay as a forgone cost, but the subsistence of the worker. That is, your benefit from the worker is a stream of “revenues” of wages-subsistence. And you have to figure in prevailing interest rates, which ran around 6%. I figure in 1850s terms we are talking of an implied wage more like 15K. And this is for a manual worker with very little benefit from productivity enhancements, a sub-third world level in modern terms. That’s expensive labor.
As a young E5 in the mid-80s at Fortress Bragg, my Platoon Sergeant used to take us on Veterans Day to the Fayetteville VA to visit patients. As a young soldier yet to be combat tested, I marveled at their stories and exploits from WWII to Vietman; more than a few were Puertoricans.
It saddens me to read commentary disparaging a whole class of people while discussing the economic mismanagement of a leftist government.
Today I am reminded, yet again, freedom of speech is a great power few use with good judgement or responsibly.
I expect more from conservatives; this is not the DU.
Dignity and respect to all is the conservative quality. The only exception being when engaged in combat.
Good evening to all.
PS — Flame away if you so desire, I will ignore while enjoying Pookie’s Toons,
Thanks for speaking up. Well said. I would only detract by saying more.
+1
Westinghouse moved a lot of assembly work to PR in the 70’s and 80’s. My understanding at the time was that the tax breaks were good for 10 years, after which the company would start paying again. Of course, after 10 years they moved on to the next sucker. Everything they built there was easy hand assembly that requires no capital equipment, so it was easy to pick up and move again. They paid a decent wage, so the people working there were doing well.....for a little while.
Good recipe for disaster.
Maybe they should have made the tax breaks permanent. At least governments would get income tax and sales tax revenues, and fewer people on welfare.
Irrespective of the all-important need to finance government (why we have been placed on earth), more people would be employed. Those jobs would be a rung on the ladder of success. Some would climb from there.
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