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Will Pot and Prostitution Save Puerto Rico?
Leviathan.Chaosx
Serveur: Leviathan
Game: FFXI
Posts: 20284
By Leviathan.Chaosx 2014-04-23 07:19:25
The situation here doesn't look so good:
Quote: In Puerto Rico, 45 percent of the population lives in poverty, and the unemployment rate is a solid 15 percent.
Those numbers aren't a good sign for any area of the United States, least of all an island whose name translates to “Rich Port.” But after years of recession, Puerto Rico's debt crisis finally seems to have reached a day of reckoning.
Then the government stepped in:
Quote: Officials have opened a public campaign to field ideas for how to fix the crisis once and for all.
A government website is accepting suggestions, and close to 400 ideas have been submitted. At least 150 have been accepted by a government committee for consideration. Among the ideas to be considered are calls legalize marijuana and
prostitution, and to drastically cut back the amount of public holidays that workers on the island celebrate. Source
So now there is hope.
Quote: Others, such as Rep. Ricardo Llerandi Cruz, have suggested doing away with 41 government agencies, some of which he claims are redundant. He stated his proposal would save $160 million just in administrative costs. Source
Excessive government spending may need to be curtailed as well:
Quote: The island currently celebrates 20 holidays a year, double those observed in the U.S. Many people have bristled at the proposal to scrap some of the additional extra days off, some of which commemorate various historic Puerto
Rican leaders. But Gonzalez said the excessive number of holidays costs the government about $500 million a year in lost productivity and interruptions in service, among other things.
"Change always brings about inconveniences," she said. "I'm convinced that before we talk about something as dramatic and disastrous as layoffs, we have to consider other ideas." Source
So now that the economic situation has forced the issue of legalizing marijuana and prostitution, should it be done? Can it be done? And does economic policy ultimately triumph over any moral ambiguity?
Serveur: Shiva
Game: FFXI
Posts: 3616
By Shiva.Onorgul 2014-04-23 07:53:29
How does curtailing government spending in any way benefit the economy?
Yes, it will marginally reduce taxes, but the numbers being quoted amount to very little individually over the course of a year. Would anyone seriously notice that they got $100 in extra take-home pay over the course of 12 months? You'd have to pull out a calculator to even see it on a bi-weekly paycheck. In the meantime, though, government spending is money circulating in the economy. It's why sane people don't really freak out that the US federal government operates 100% of the time in debt.
The other proposals seem... bad. Decriminalizing marijuana and prostitution would turn Puerto Rico into a tourist destination (which it nominally already is, I thought?), but it means the worst kinds of tourists. Moreover, I'd be seriously worried that the sex tourism industry would do to PR what it has done to so many other nations that encourage it: increase the rate of child abuse and exploitation.
I suppose marijuana has fewer negatives attached to it, but I'd still question wanting to put up with douchebags arriving to get high as certain areas of Amsterdam have endured in recent years. I'd worry about the bubble bursting within less than 10 years, though, as I can see things moving in a direction that will make cannabis tourism irrelevant, though that doesn't necessarily preclude farming it. It grows best in a tropical to sub-tropical environment, right?
It all just sounds like band-aids for broken arms, though.
By fonewear 2014-04-23 08:04:51
Without hookers and rum why would I go to Puerto Rico ?
By fonewear 2014-04-23 08:13:06
Thing is I don't have to go to Puerto Rico to get a hooker or rum. They need to think of other reasons to visit.
Not everyone wants to sit on the beach and drink over priced drinks.
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Serveur: Asura
Game: FFXI
Posts: 34187
By Asura.Kingnobody 2014-04-23 08:45:46
How does curtailing government spending in any way benefit the economy?
Yes, it will marginally reduce taxes, but the numbers being quoted amount to very little individually over the course of a year. Would anyone seriously notice that they got $100 in extra take-home pay over the course of 12 months? You'd have to pull out a calculator to even see it on a bi-weekly paycheck. In the meantime, though, government spending is money circulating in the economy. It's why sane people don't really freak out that the US federal government operates 100% of the time in debt. It is posts like this that really makes me question the intelligence of a certain group of people.
I would love to explain how wrong you are, but you will A) ignore it, because it doesn't fit your agenda, B) attempt to counter it, even though you have already admitted in the past that you have no knowledge of the economy, and/or C) demonize it, because you find my views to be dangerous to you.
But, on this forum, people are going to applaud you for your lack of knowledge, and those who have incorrect knowledge (those who pretend to know everything and those who use the correct knowledge and twist them to fit their "vision") prevail, and I really don't wish to be topic/temp banned today for nothing more than the attempt to educate you as to how wrong you are.
Plus, it would take all day, and I really don't have time for this ***.
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Lakshmi.Flavin
Serveur: Lakshmi
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Posts: 18466
By Lakshmi.Flavin 2014-04-23 08:49:56
Man... you really took your time there telling someone why they wouldn't accept your answer lol...
Just post your answer next time and watch people flail around if you think you're right...
You certainly had enough time for that post! Summaries man... SUMMARIES!
Serveur: Shiva
Game: FFXI
Posts: 3616
By Shiva.Onorgul 2014-04-23 08:57:27
Plus, it would take all day, and I really don't have time for this ***. But you had time to write all that. Pardon me if I call *** on your entire post as you never support any claim you make. Actually, don't pardon me.
The level of projection you put into everything you say is astonishing, though. I not only alter my opinions but regularly ask them to be challenged and altered. You are the one who clings mindlessly to your prejudices in the face of contrary data.
Serveur: Asura
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Posts: 422
By Asura.Ivykyori 2014-04-23 09:07:42
I'd like to say before this turns into a full out ***storm about the economy:
Those would have to be some expensive hookers for it to put a dent in their situation.
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Garuda.Chanti
Serveur: Garuda
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Posts: 11096
By Garuda.Chanti 2014-04-23 09:13:12
So the government will lay off thousands of people on an island with 15% unemployment and this will help the economy?
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Leviathan.Chaosx
Serveur: Leviathan
Game: FFXI
Posts: 20284
By Leviathan.Chaosx 2014-04-23 10:07:38
So the government will lay off thousands of people on an island with 15% unemployment and this will help the economy? Yeah, I'm not sure how that will work. Maybe kicks backs or something from the prostitution.
Bahamut.Milamber
Serveur: Bahamut
Game: FFXI
Posts: 3691
By Bahamut.Milamber 2014-04-23 10:14:45
Best start yanking their bootstraps, yo.
Reduction in governmemt spending and holiday time will definitely not decrease unemployment, but likely increase it.
Now, greater efficiency in spending, or changing *what* it is spent on, is a different proposition.
But they are primarily hurting from two factors: loss of revenue due to an expired tax exemption causing corporate offices to be closed, and a nasty transportation legislation preventing foreign ships from carrying cargo between two US cities (Jones Act).
Simply removing or exempting them from the Jones Act would significantly improve their situation.
Leviathan.Chaosx
Serveur: Leviathan
Game: FFXI
Posts: 20284
By Leviathan.Chaosx 2014-04-23 10:53:03
Efficiency is definitely the key.
Shiva.Gib
Serveur: Shiva
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Posts: 1264
By Shiva.Gib 2014-04-23 12:59:59
I do find it hilarious that the OP's avatar is of Bender, cause this sounds like a plan Bender came up with.
Leviathan.Chaosx
Serveur: Leviathan
Game: FFXI
Posts: 20284
By Leviathan.Chaosx 2014-04-23 15:06:38
I do find it hilarious that the OP's avatar is of Bender, cause this sounds like a plan Bender came up with. Need blackjack as well.
By fonewear 2014-04-23 16:42:42
What they need is hookers that sell pot that way you can be more efficient.
Serveur: Sylph
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Posts: 30
By Sylph.Artofox 2014-04-23 17:29:01
in san juan right now and this is a hot news topic.
also married and dont smoke, so i will not be partaking in hookers nor weed. not even for research. ay mami!
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Serveur: Shiva
Game: FFXI
Posts: 3616
By Shiva.Onorgul 2014-04-23 17:38:20
When has that had anything to do with paying for sex?
By fonewear 2014-04-23 17:48:09
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Serveur: Shiva
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Posts: 20130
By Shiva.Nikolce 2014-04-24 09:25:19
How does curtailing government spending in any way benefit the economy?
By it's very nature bureaucracy is inefficient. Government doesn't produce a marketable product and is dependent solely on taxes and tariffs as sources of income.
So if I walk up to a homeless guy and give him ten dollars, he has ten dollars.
If a government wanted to give that same homeless guy my ten dollars they can't just ask me for the ten dollars and hand it to him.
They would first need to pass a law in order to take my ten dollars and within that law create two additional bureaucracies (or force additional requirements on existing bureaucracies by expanding their budgets -see IRS and HHS on Obamacare), one to collect the tax and one to distribute it.
So then government has to hire and pay all of those people to collect and distribute the ten dollars which naturally costs more than ten dollars so they have to take more money from me.
The last study I read would put the figure they would need to collect from me at somewhere around $145.00.
But I am rich and don't want to pay the $145 so I hire a tax lawyer to find a loophole to avoid paying the tax OR to defer my tax payment to some time in the future.
So the government doesn't have the $145 to give the homeless guy anything but they already have the bureaucracy in place so they borrow the money to fund the bureaucracy based on the premise that at some point they will refine the law and force me to pay the $145
Meanwhile two other things are happening. Some of the people they hired to run the bureaucracy are retiring and they are paying for them. And they are paying the interest on the debt they took out to pay for them in the first place. Neither of which went into the original calculation and are growing and an unpredictable astronomical rate
Since they aren't "making" any money, they either have to borrow more or print it.
And who are they borrowing it from?
ME! the wealthy 1% everyone hates for dodging the tax in the first place...BUT... of course I am charging them interest on the money I loan to them which BY LAW they have to pay.
So... Instead of me handing $10 to a bum you have chosen to rely on the government which instead ends up paying me the $10 and the bum still gets nothing.
Then you just repeat that until the gross debt surpasses the gdp and you get to NOW.
What we created is a trickle UP economy where all money flows to the rich and stops because they loose it (through taxation and regulation) if it's spent or invested.
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Serveur: Shiva
Game: FFXI
Posts: 20130
By Shiva.Nikolce 2014-04-24 09:41:48
So cutting government spending off all at once would collapse the economy (see Greece) continuing to spend at an ever growing rate would also collapse the economy. (see Greece) so the only remaining option is gradually curtailing the spending to try to stop the eventual imminent collapse while trying not to collapse it in the process.
So in the short term NO curtailing the spending doesn't have an appreciable impact on making things better in the economy. In fact, it probably makes it worse. However, it's better than what happens if we don't and the recession turns into a depression.
By fonewear 2014-04-24 09:48:44
When has that had anything to do with paying for sex?
Well being married means you have to lie about it. Only difference I can think of.
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Asura.Natenn
Serveur: Asura
Game: FFXI
Posts: 1979
By Asura.Natenn 2014-04-24 09:54:17
and the age of consent in PR is 16! ppl will fly in from across the globe for teen booty/weed.
Serveur: Shiva
Game: FFXI
Posts: 20130
By Shiva.Nikolce 2014-04-24 13:22:54
on topic
is the official name for the plan the Snoop Dogg Contingency.
or is he still Snoop Lion?
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Caitsith.Zahrah
Serveur: Caitsith
Game: FFXI
By Caitsith.Zahrah 2014-04-24 13:28:15
and the age of consent in PR is 16! ppl will fly in from across the globe for teen booty/weed.
By fonewear 2014-04-24 14:41:39
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By Pulguita 2014-04-24 17:00:41
So much ignorants it makes my eyes bleed... People need to realize that this economical crisis is nothing but recent, it goes way back, easily like 40-50 years old, still many of Puertoricans politicians go to jail because of thievery. And that's to blame the ignorant people that vote for fanatics and not for knowledge. The economy will keep going down, example, Puertoricans senators gains almost 200k/year, have a car, cellphone, all meals during a 5 day labor shift estimated for 40 hours weekly, all payed by the common people taxes, they don't work on ANY Puertorican celebration day and still get payed if is on normal week (not weekend sicne they don't work for God's sake on weekend or festivities). Point to be short is, why complain so much when the direct fix to the root is the government? Reduce senators and all those useless to be politicians they budget and fix it to the people. P.S. I'm Puertorican
Leviathan.Chaosx
Serveur: Leviathan
Game: FFXI
Posts: 20284
By Leviathan.Chaosx 2014-04-24 17:10:45
So much ignorants it makes my eyes bleed... People need to realize that this economical crisis is nothing but recent, it goes way back, easily like 40-50 years old, still many of Puertoricans politicians go to jail because of thievery. And that's to blame the ignorant people that vote for fanatics and not for knowledge. The economy will keep going down, example, Puertoricans senators gains almost 200k/year, have a car, cellphone, all meals during a 5 day labor shift estimated for 40 hours weekly, all payed by the common people taxes, they don't work on ANY Puertorican celebration day and still get payed if is on normal week (not weekend sicne they don't work for God's sake on weekend or festivities). Point to be short is, why complain so much when the direct fix to the root is the government? Reduce senators and all those useless to be politicians they budget and fix it to the people. P.S. I'm Puertorican This Reminded me of some news story I was watching today about an althete, boxer maybe don't remember offhand, who lost like $63 million dollars because he had all his money in Puerto Rican government bonds. Not even wasting it away on anything either.
By Pulguita 2014-04-24 17:15:50
That's Tito Trinidad (boxer)
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Leviathan.Chaosx
Serveur: Leviathan
Game: FFXI
Posts: 20284
By Leviathan.Chaosx 2014-04-25 04:57:51
That's Tito Trinidad (boxer) Thanks. :) The name completely escaped me.
The situation here doesn't look so good:
Quote: In Puerto Rico, 45 percent of the population lives in poverty, and the unemployment rate is a solid 15 percent.
Those numbers aren't a good sign for any area of the United States, least of all an island whose name translates to “Rich Port.” But after years of recession, Puerto Rico's debt crisis finally seems to have reached a day of reckoning.
Then the government stepped in:
Quote: Officials have opened a public campaign to field ideas for how to fix the crisis once and for all.
A government website is accepting suggestions, and close to 400 ideas have been submitted. At least 150 have been accepted by a government committee for consideration. Among the ideas to be considered are calls legalize marijuana and
prostitution, and to drastically cut back the amount of public holidays that workers on the island celebrate. Source
So now there is hope.
Quote: Others, such as Rep. Ricardo Llerandi Cruz, have suggested doing away with 41 government agencies, some of which he claims are redundant. He stated his proposal would save $160 million just in administrative costs. Source
Excessive government spending may need to be curtailed as well:
Quote: The island currently celebrates 20 holidays a year, double those observed in the U.S. Many people have bristled at the proposal to scrap some of the additional extra days off, some of which commemorate various historic Puerto
Rican leaders. But Gonzalez said the excessive number of holidays costs the government about $500 million a year in lost productivity and interruptions in service, among other things.
"Change always brings about inconveniences," she said. "I'm convinced that before we talk about something as dramatic and disastrous as layoffs, we have to consider other ideas." Source
So now that the economic situation has forced the issue of legalizing marijuana and prostitution, should it be done? Can it be done? And does economic policy ultimately triumph over any moral ambiguity?
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