# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
For years, Puerto Rico borrowed money by issuing municipal bonds, using the funds to compensate for declining government revenue and prevent deep cuts in services and layoffs of public workers. It easily found investors.

But Puerto Rico can no longer afford what it owes. The island is reeling under more than $70 billion of debt, and officials there have warned about its inability to pay back investors while maintaining essential services for residents such as health care and schools.

This is what's happening and how the island got here:

1. The White House said it had chosen seven experts in finance and the law who will supervise Puerto Rico's fiscal affairs in the coming months under a law enacted this summer designed to help the island restructure its $72 billion of debt.

The rescue plan drew plenty of criticism from both sides of the political aisle, and the passage of the law elicited protests among the island's residents. In June, the Supreme Court rejected Puerto Rico's attempt to allow its utility companies to restructure their debt, leaving it to Congress to finalize a rescue plan for the island's fiscal woes.

The day after the law was signed, the island's governor, Alejandro Garcia Padilla, suspended nearly $2 billion of debt payments that Puerto Rico was supposed to make. It was not the first large payment Puerto Rico has missed in recent months - the island skipped a $399 million debt payment due May 2. The defaults since have continued to escalate.

2. What's being done about fixing the problem?

For months, the Obama administration has pressed Congress to put together a solution for Puerto Rico. Gov. García Padilla enacted a law in early April that allows him to block debt payments and preserve the island's dwindling cash. He has already invoked that power.

We have repeatedly traveled to Washington to convey the urgency of the situation. So far, no action has been taken.

Gov. Alejandro García Padilla

But Washington's rescue bill takes precedent.

Puerto Rico's Government Development Bank, one of the island's biggest debtors, has been negotiating with some of its bondholders to pay them at less than 100 cents on the dollar.

Fights brewing among various types of bond investors could greatly complicate things if Congress does not act in time. Some of Puerto Rico's bonds have guarantees or constitutional priority, and those investors are pushing for full payment. Other investors are pushing for early settlements, hoping they can recover more in private negotiations than a court-ordered one.

The rescue plan's restructuring provisions would also apply to Guam, American Samoa, the Northern Mariana Islands and the U.S. Virgin Islands, if necessary in the future.

3. Parts of Puerto Rico's debt

The government created a health insurance system for the poor in the 1990s, but did not identify a way to pay for it.

Bonds backed by
legislative appropriations (6% of 2015 total)

Puerto Rico's economy began contracting in 2006, causing budget deficits. The government issued these bonds to cover the deficits and operating costs. This debt has doubled since 2008.

Bonds backed by sales tax (21%)

Electricity, drinking water, highways and seaports are provided by government corporations in Puerto Rico; these bonds raised money for capital spending.

Government enterprise bonds (33%)

Electricity, drinking water, highways and seaports are provided by government corporations in Puerto Rico; these bonds raised money for capital spending.

Government

enterprise bonds

Puerto Rico's Constitution gives these bonds top priority. Some investors now argue they cannot be restructured.

Basics like schools and police stations

(financed by "good faith and credit" bonds)

Puerto Rico's economy began contracting in 2006, causing budget deficits. The government issued these bonds to cover the deficits and operating costs. This debt has doubled since 2008.

Bonds issued

by municipalities

The government created a health insurance system for the poor in the 1990s, but did not identify a way to pay for it.

Bonds backed by

legislative appropriations

*Includes short-term notes to smooth cash flow,

and bonds backed by limited sources of money, mostly tobacco settlement payments.

Electricity, drinking water, highways and seaports are provided by government corporations in Puerto Rico; these bonds raised money for capital spending.

Government enterprise bonds

Puerto Rico's Constitution gives these bonds top priority. Some investors now argue they cannot be restructured.

Basics like schools and police stations

(financed by "good faith and credit" bonds)

Puerto Rico's economy began contracting in 2006, causing budget deficits. The government issued these bonds to cover the deficits and operating costs. This debt has doubled since 2008.

Bonds backed by sales tax

Bonds issued by municipalities

The government created a health insurance system for the poor in the 1990s, but did not identify a way to pay for it.

Bonds backed by

legislative appropriations

*Includes short-term notes to smooth cash flow, and bonds backed by limited sources of money, mostly tobacco settlement payments.

4. How did the situation get this bad?

This is not just a matter of financial liabilities and litigation. The human costs for the 3.5 million Americans in Puerto Rico are real. And they are escalating daily.

Treasury Secretary Jacob J. Lew in a May 2 letter to Congress.

Much of the debt is in the form of municipal bonds, issued by the Puerto Rico government and its various agencies and utilities, to help cover revenue shortfalls and current expenses.

The debt was tax-exempt for investors throughout the United States and paid higher yields than other munis, making it attractive to scores of retail bond mutual funds. Hedge funds and other risk-seeking investors also piled in as the island's financial woes mounted.

That helps explain how Puerto Rico amassed such a mountain of debt, but there were other crisis factors at play. Corporate tax breaks designed to spur economic growth for Puerto Rico expired in 2006, and manufacturing and other business activity began to leave the island. When jobs started leaving, people followed or lost their jobs, reducing Puerto Rico's tax revenue. The government filled the gaps by borrowing even more.

Unlike American cities such as Detroit, Puerto Rico isn't allowed to file for a court-arranged bankruptcy reorganization. And unlike sovereign nations such as Greece, it can't seek emergency assistance from the International Monetary Fund. That is why it has asked Congress to give it extraordinary powers to reduce its debt outside of bankruptcy.

5. How is Puerto Rico different from a state?

Puerto Rico is a territory of the United States. It is a distinction that, for years, has carried many of the advantages of being a state and few of the downsides. Most notably, Puerto Rico receives federal assistance, but most of its residents do not pay federal personal income tax.

But the lack of statehood status is now hurting the island at its time of greatest need. Health care is a large and growing part of its economy, but the federal government reimburses its doctors and hospitals at lower rates than if it were a state, for example. That prompts its doctors to leave for the mainland. And unlike cities or counties on the mainland, Puerto Rico can't simply file for bankruptcy.

6. How does this affect you?

Residents of the island might have to brace for budget cuts for services like schools, hospitals and Zika virus containment efforts. At some point their taxes could go up.

On the mainland, the effects of the crisis are still largely isolated to the bond market, which doesn't show widespread signs of stress. There are indications, however, that investors are steering clear of known trouble spots, such as Chicago's school district.

The bigger issue might be the effect on towns and states that have serious budget imbalances and are looking at Congress's solution for Puerto Rico as a road map for getting some form of help for themselves. Critics of any sweeping debt reductions say allowing Puerto Rico to go back on its bond promises could put a chill on investment in American municipal debt, raising the cost of borrowing-and of roads, bridges and other public works-for struggling cities.

7. What's the political fallout?

House Speaker Paul Ryan made a Puerto Rico rescue package a priority, using it as a way to showcase his ability to gain bipartisan support. He eventually succeeded in getting a bill passed, at the urging of the Obama administration, but Mr. Ryan's earlier request for a bill by a March 31 deadline came and went.

The crisis may become an issue in the election year campaigns, especially in Florida, which is home to a large population of Puerto Ricans who have left the island since the economic slowdown began. Lawmakers have stressed that the plan to rescue Puerto Rico was not a taxpayer bailout.

Michael Corkery contributed reporting.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
How Puerto Rico Debt Is Grappling With a Debt Crisis

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
For years, Puerto Rico borrowed money by issuing municipal bonds, using the funds to compensate for declining government revenue and prevent deep cuts in services and layoffs of public workers. It easily found investors. But Puerto Rico can no longer afford what it owes.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
New Census Figures Confirm: Puerto Rico is a Nation of Poverty and Social Crisis

October 28, 2011 by Julito Varela

This information originally appeared in Spanish in Puerto Rico's Vocero newspaper. While politicians on the island from all political parties play the partisan game, according to the US Census, Puerto Rico is facing worsening economic and social conditions.

Puerto Rico has become a poor country, that is more dependent, with more disabled people. The working age population is now the minority, their participation in the labor market is minimal and they are less educated. A quarter of the population lives in poverty, according to 2010 Census.

Here are some facts:

There are 311,000 people who live alone. That equates to one in five of all 1.319 million Puerto Rican households 1,319 million. The average number of people in other households is 3.2.

Half of the families in Puerto Rico are married couples, and 43 percent of them have children. A third of households are headed by women. There are now 700,000 thousand children. There are more people over 65 in Puerto Rico than children, creating a dependent population.

Each year there are 17,000 marriages, while there are 15,000 divorces. Almost half of couples who have a home are not married.

52 percent of the population are women.

15 percent of the population is over 65 years old.

In 42 percent of the families, there is a person over 65 years old, which means that this elderly population does not have sufficient income to live alone.

In the area of ​​education, a quarter of the island's total population, one million people, is comprised of students, including adults, adolescents, and children. However, the majority of the adult population has attained a high school education. The level of education is 22 percent, which suggests that the poverty rate has increased.

80 percent of teachers in the public school system are not in English, while 63 percent of university students do not graduate. 60 percent of public school students do not master basic skills in Spanish.

Only one in five Puerto Ricans have mastered English skills, thus reducing the bilingual labor market.

There are 2,444,000 people who 25 years or older. 20 percent of this population has ninth grade education or less, 11 percent complete Grade 11, while only 25 percent have completed fours years of high school.

63 percent of the population have a college education or lower education.

On the island there are 400,000 people with college degrees, or 16 percent of the population. Only 6 percent if the population or 154,000 people have a graduated degrees The total number of people with undergraduate or graduate degrees is only 22 percent of the population.

There are 113,000 veterans Puerto Ricans living on the Island

Meanwhile, there are 726 000 people with disabilities, or 20 percent of the population. 52 percent of people over 65 has some form of disability, and children represent 7 percent of the disabled population. There are 67,000 students in special education. Disabled adults and children account for 1.5 million people, or one third of the population.

There are 200,000 Puerto Ricans born in the U.S., or 5 percent of the population. Another 304,000 were born outside the United States, while the rest of the population was born on the island.

In terms of economics, the study revealed that a 250,000 families (with 3.2 members per household) live on less than $ 10,000 annually, or $ 800 per month, which equals $ 240 a month per household member.

Women are discriminated against by receiving less pay and have worse working conditions, while the average monthly income of retirees is $ 668 from Social Security.

The labor force is 1.2 million, a quarter of the population. The participation rate is one million, less than 39 percent of the total population. Only 39% of older people who work.

Almost half the population lives below the poverty line: 45 percent of 3.7 million.Less than 40,000 families have incomes more than $ 100 000. 37 percent of the population depends on the federal Nutritional Assistance Program (NAP).

In the last decade has been over half a million Puerto Ricans have left the island, which results is a fleeing of knowledge from the island.

40 percent of the population receives 8 percent of the country's income, while the remaining 92 percent goes into the hands of 60% of the population, which implies an unequal distribution of wealth.

On issues related to the population of all Puerto Ricans in the United States, there are now 4.2 million Puerto Ricans living in the United States. This signifies a greater diaspora, when compared to countries like Iraq, Afghanistan, Somalia, Sudan and Palestines.

The population of people under 18 years old fell to 17 percent.

Puerto Rico has become a nation without a working class, with poor, dependent, disabled and marginalized people.

The island has been in decline, according to data that could be classified as the worst since the first census conducted in 1950. Is it the lost decade?

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
New Census Figures Confirm: Puerto Rico is a Nation of Poverty and Social Crisis

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
This information originally appeared in Spanish in Puerto Rico's Vocero newspaper. While politicians on the island from all political parties play the partisan game, according to the US Census, Puerto Rico is facing worsening economic and social conditions. Puerto Rico has become a poor country, that is more dependent, with more disabled people.

# data[].attributes.body
There are four main factors of production:  land (this also includes natural resources), labor, capital, and entrepreneurship.
Land:
I need property to build a building.
Labor:
I need workers to manage files, answer the phone, go on site, etc.
Capital:
I need desks, papers, files, etc.
Entrepreneurship:
Kathryn Hardy (Myself)

# data[].attributes.body
Puerto Rico. I need to be in a poor state because people will be in need of money. My business wouldn't go well if it was in a wealth country or state. This is a great business opportunity. Of course, my business won't only be in Puerto Rico. It will be online where anyone can access it and when my business gets big enough I will move to other states/countries.
Some resources:
http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2016/business/dealbook/puerto-rico-debt-crisis-explained.html

https://juliorvarela.com/2011/10/28/new-census-figures-confirm-puerto-rico-is-a-nation-of-poverty-and-social-crisis/

# data[].attributes.body
Name:
FastCa$h
Logo:

# data[].attributes.body
Money Lender. I will lend money to people who need it fast and then have them pay me back with interest.
Benefits:
You can pick your payment plan (3, 6, or  12 month payments!)
We don't check your credit score!
Get it the same day you came!
You can do what you want with the money!
Varied interest rates!
Application process takes under 5 minutes!

# data[].attributes.body
Puerto Rico mainly focuses on manufacturing goods such as pharmaceuticals (medicine), electronics, clothes, etc. Followed by insurance, real estate, and tourism.
I don't think this will really effect my business.

# data[].attributes.body
Predict one major problem you might run into this business. Then, create a plan for how you will address this problem if it occurs.

I might run into debt with people not repaying their loans. I will have them sign a contract beforehand and have legal evidence that they need to pay debt. If they run away abroad I will hire some people to go after them. I will get my hands dirty if I need to.