August 1999: The Puerto Rican Miracle: How to Spend Beyond Your Means
An X-Ray of our consumption Patterns, causes and effects
By international standards, our share of consumption in GNP exceeds 93% of all countries in the world yet our income is barely a third of Mississippi`s per capita income. The consumer sector in Puerto Rico does not appear severely strained by low savings. Dramatic use and availability of credit is partly the explanation. Find out how the average consumer spends its income; why, despite a revolutionary health care reform, we are spending more on health and less on food. And, are we really spending less on education? In assessing whether the household sector has become overextended, debt balances provide some answers and worries as interest rates start to rise again.