Puerto Rico against the Fiscal Control Board: Austerity, dependency, and horizons of fiscal democracy
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.51359/2179-7501.2025.268444Keywords:
Puerto Rico, Fiscal Control Board, Austerity, Neoliberalism, Participatory PlanningAbstract
This article examines Puerto Rico’s fiscal regime after the United States Congress imposed a Fiscal Control Board. It argues that, under a neoliberal rationale, the Board enforced austerity, privatization, and deregulation, outsourcing fiscal planning to multinational consulting firms and displacing democratic deliberation. The article also challenges the economic diagnosis the Board used to justify its agenda and documents the erosion of state capacity and rights caused by its implementation. Against the prospect of reverting to pre-crisis disorder or entrenching technocratic continuity under a local agency, the paper proposes a participatory fiscal-planning framework for Puerto Rico that can open spaces for collective deliberation and a just future.
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Copyright (c) 2025 Ricardo Fuentes-Ramírez
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