Economic History of Puerto Rico: Institutional Change and Capitalist Development

The author of this historical analysis that goes back to the era of the conquest favors an "internal growth dynamic" for Puerto Rico. He admits that gains have occurred under Operation Bootstrap, but distinguishes growth from development and questions the reliability of trickle-down as a redistribution mechanism. In particular, he criticizes the "structure of disarticulated production" that has required large subsidies for housing, food, etc., seeing in these the costs and dangers of a development program based on capital-intensive, foreign-owned, vertically integrated and export-oriented corporate expansion.