Your Call: Breaking down Puerto Rico’s debt crisis

On the March 2nd edition of Your Call, we’ll dig to the roots of Puerto Rico’s fiscal crisis.

The U.S. territory is $73 billion dollars in debt, having used investor-friendly tax-free bonds to finance basic services. But last June, the island’s Governor declared its debt un-payable. What roles have Washington and Wall Street played in Puerto Rico’s debt crisis and what are its far-reaching implications? It’s Your Call, with guest host Renee Kemp and you.

Guests: 

Ed Morales, author and journalist, lecturer at Columbia University’s Center for the Study of Ethnicity and Race

David Dayen, freelance reporter  

Web Resources:

The American Prospect: How Hedge Funds Deepen Puerto Rico’s Debt Crisis

The Nation:  The Roots of Puerto Rico’s Debt Crisis—and Why Austerity Will Not Solve It

The Guardian: Puerto Rico in crisis: weighed down by $73bn debt as unemployment hits 14%

The Guardian: Puerto Rico's intensifying debt crisis has residents bracing for the worst

The Guardian: Puerto Rico's soaring cost of living, from giant electric bills to $5 cornflakes

The Nation:  How Hedge and Vulture Funds Have Exploited Puerto Rico’s Debt Crisis

The Nation:  Is an Obama Donor Tying the President’s Hands on Puerto Rico’s Debt Crisis?

Jacobin: Puerto Rico’s Dance With Debt

Latino USA: Puerto Rico debt crisis

Bloomberg: Puerto Rico’s Slide

The Hill: Puerto Rico’s debt crisis: A Lehman moment for the island

The Real News Network: How Tax Dodging Put Puerto Rico on the Road to Debt (1/2)

The Real News Network:Cash-Strapped Puerto Rico at Hedge Funds' Mercy (2/2) 

San Juan, Puerto Rico

By Laura Flynn

Your Call: Breaking down Puerto Rico’s debt crisis