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Puerto Rican Government-debt Crisis
The Puerto Rican government-debt crisis was a financial crisis affecting the government of Puerto Rico. The crisis began in 2014 when three major credit agencies downgraded List of bonds issued by Puerto Rico, several bond issues by Puerto Rico to "junk status" after the government was unable to demonstrate that it could pay its debt. The downgrades, in turn, prevented the government from selling more bonds in the open market. Unable to obtain the funding to cover its budget imbalance, the government began using its savings to pay its debt while warning that those savings would eventually be exhausted. To prevent such a scenario, the United States Congress enacted a law known as PROMESA, which appointed an oversight board with ultimate control over the Commonwealth (U.S. insular area)#Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Commonwealth's budget. As the PROMESA board began to exert that control, the Puerto Rican government sought to increase revenues and reduce its expenses by increasing ta ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Financial Crisis
A financial crisis is any of a broad variety of situations in which some financial assets suddenly lose a large part of their nominal value. In the 19th and early 20th centuries, many financial crises were associated with Bank run#Systemic banking crises, banking panics, and many recessions coincided with these panics. Other situations that are often called financial crises include stock market crashes and the bursting of other financial Economic bubble, bubbles, currency crisis, currency crises, and sovereign defaults. Financial crises directly result in a loss of paper wealth but do not necessarily result in significant changes in the real economy (for example, the crisis resulting from the famous tulip mania bubble in the 17th century). Many economists have offered theories about how financial crises develop and how they could be prevented. There is little consensus and financial crises continue to occur from time to time. It is apparent however that a consistent feature of bo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sales Tax
A sales tax is a tax paid to a governing body for the sales of certain goods and services. Usually laws allow the seller to collect funds for the tax from the consumer at the point of purchase. When a tax on goods or services is paid to a governing body directly by a consumer, it is usually called a use tax. Often laws provide for the Tax exemption, exemption of certain goods or services from sales and use tax, such as food, education, and medicines. A value-added tax (VAT) collected on goods and services is related to a sales tax. See Value-added tax#Comparison with sales tax, Comparison with sales tax for key differences. Types Conventional or retail sales tax is levied on the sale of a good to its final good, final end-user and is charged every time that item is sold retail. Sales to businesses that later resell the goods are not charged the tax. A purchaser who is not an end-user is usually issued a "resale certificate" by the taxing authority and required to provide the cer ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
How Stuff Works
HowStuffWorks is an American commercial infotainment website founded by professor and author Marshall Brain, to provide its target audience an insight into the way many things work. The site uses various media to explain complex concepts, terminology, and mechanisms—including photographs, diagrams, videos, animations, and articles. The website was acquired by Discovery Communications in 2007, but was sold to Blucora in 2014. The site has since expanded out into podcasting, focusing on factual topics. In December 2016, HowStuffWorks, LLC became a subsidiary of OpenMail, LLC, later renamed System1. In 2018, the podcast division of the company, which had been spun-off by System1 under the name Stuff Media, was acquired by iHeartMedia for $55 million. History In 1998, then North Carolina State University instructor Marshall Brain (1961–2024), started the site as a hobby. In 1999, Brain raised venture capital and formed HowStuffWorks, Inc. In March 2002, HowStuffWorks was so ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Municipal Bond
A municipal bond, commonly known as a muni, is a bond issued by state or local governments, or entities they create such as authorities and special districts. In the United States, interest income received by holders of municipal bonds is often, but not always, exempt from federal and state income taxation. Typically, only investors in the highest tax brackets benefit from buying tax-exempt municipal bonds instead of taxable bonds. Taxable equivalent yield calculations are required to make fair comparisons between the two categories. The U.S. municipal debt market is relatively small compared to the corporate market: total municipal debt outstanding was $4 trillion as of the first quarter of 2021, compared to nearly $15 trillion in the corporate and foreign markets. But conversely, the number of municipal bond issuers (state and local governments and other affiliated entities) far exceeds the number of corporate bond issuers. Local authorities in many other countries in the wo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bonds Issued By Puerto Rico
Bonds issued by the government of Puerto Rico and its subdivisions are exempt from federal, state, and local taxes (so called "triple tax exemption"). However, unlike other triple tax exempt bonds, Puerto Rican bonds uphold such exemption regardless of where the bond holder resides. This has made Puerto Rican bonds extremely attractive to municipal investors as they may inure from holding a bond issued by a state or municipality different from the one where they reside. This advantage strives from the restriction typically imposed by municipal bonds enjoying triple tax exemption where such exemptions solely apply for bond holders that reside in the state or municipal subdivision that issues them. This factor, along with many others, led Puerto Rico to issue bonds up to today's outstanding debt of US$71 billion—an amount approximately equal to about 68% of Puerto Rico's gross domestic product (GDP). These actions, along with a series of negative cash flows and a depression, ulti ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jones–Shafroth Act
The Jones–Shafroth Act () – also known as the Jones Act of Puerto Rico, Jones Law of Puerto Rico, or as the Puerto Rican Federal Relations Act of 1917 – was an Act of the United States Congress, signed by President Woodrow Wilson on March 2, 1917. The act superseded the Foraker Act and granted U.S. citizenship to anyone born in Puerto Rico on or after April 11, 1899. It also created the Senate of Puerto Rico, established a bill of rights, and authorized the election of a Resident Commissioner (previously appointed by the President) to a four-year term. The act also exempted Puerto Rican bonds from federal, state, and local taxes regardless of where the bondholder resides. Impetus The impetus for this legislation came from a complex of local and mainland interests. Puerto Ricans lacked internationally recognized citizenship, but the local council was wary of "imposing citizenship." Luis Muñoz Rivera, the Resident Commissioner in Washington, argued against US citi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Recession
In economics, a recession is a business cycle contraction that occurs when there is a period of broad decline in economic activity. Recessions generally occur when there is a widespread drop in spending (an adverse demand shock). This may be triggered by various events, such as a financial crisis, an external trade shock, an adverse supply shock, the bursting of an economic bubble, or a large-scale Anthropogenic hazard, anthropogenic or natural disaster (e.g. a pandemic). There is no official definition of a recession, according to the International Monetary Fund, IMF. In the United States, a recession is defined as "a significant decline in economic activity spread across the market, lasting more than a few months, normally visible in real GDP, real income, employment, industrial production, and wholesale-retail sales." The European Union has adopted a similar definition. In the United Kingdom and Canada, a recession is defined as negative economic growth for two consecutive qu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
2013 Puerto Rico Teachers Protest
The 2013 Puerto Rico teachers protest is an ongoing protest staged by the teachers of Puerto Rico's public school system which began on December 19, 2013. During the protest, teachers from the Puerto Rico Teachers Federation took over the floor of the Senate of Puerto Rico with the intention of halting an extraordinary session called by Governor Alejandro García Padilla. Padilla was going to order a reform of the Puerto Rico Teachers Pension System. The Sergeant-at-Arms of the Senate of Puerto Rico stated he could not guarantee the safety of those in the hemicycle of the Capitol of Puerto Rico that houses the Senate. Both the Governor and the President of the Senate of Puerto Rico, Eduardo Bhatia, asked the Puerto Rico Joint Forces of Rapid Action (FURA) and the Puerto Rico Police to not intervene nor attempt to remove the protesters. References {{reflist, 2 2013 in Puerto Rico Puerto Rico ; abbreviated PR), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, is a Governm ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Civil Unrest
Civil disorder, also known as civil disturbance, civil unrest, civil strife, or turmoil, are situations when law enforcement and security forces struggle to maintain public order or tranquility. Causes Any number of things may cause civil disorder, whether it is a single cause or a combination of causes; however, most are born from political grievances, economic disparities, social discord, but historically have been the result of long-standing oppression by a group of people towards another. Civil disorder arising from political grievances can include a range of events, from a simple protest to a mass civil disobedience. These events can be spontaneous, but can also be planned. These events can turn violent when agitators and law enforcers overreact. Civil disorder has in history arisen from economic disputes, political reasons (such as in opposition to oppressive or tyrannical government forces), religious opposition, racial oppression and social discord among various ca ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Puerto Rico Government Development Bank
The Government Development Bank for Puerto Rico (GDB) — (BGF)— is the government bond issuer, intragovernmental bank, fiscal agent, and financial advisor of the government of Puerto Rico. The bank, along with its subsidiaries and affiliates, serves as the principal entity through which Puerto Rico channels its issuance of bonds. As an overview, the different executive agencies of the government of Puerto Rico and its government-owned corporations either issue bonds with the bank as a proxy, or owe debt to the bank itself (as the bank is a government-owned corporation as well). History The Bank was founded under the initiative of Governor Rexford Guy Tugwell, who signed Law 253 of May 13, 1942, creating the institution in charge of economic development for the Government of Puerto Rico. A subsequent law in 1945 expanded its responsibilities to include serving as the fiscal agent for, and financial advisor of, the government of Puerto Rico. The centralized go ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Acceleration (law)
Acceleration is defined in law as a shortening of the time period in which something is to take place. The concept of acceleration most often arises within the context of contract law. An acceleration clause, also known as an acceleration covenant, may be included within a contract, so as to fully mature the performance due from a party upon a breach of the contract, such as by requiring payment in full upon the contract if a borrower materially breaches a loan agreement. Acceleration clauses are most prevalent in mortgages and similar contracts to purchase real estate in installments. In a mortgage contract, activation of an acceleration clause may operate as a precursor to a foreclosure action through which a lender may legally compel the sale of the property that the borrower acquired by using the mortgage loan. Proceeds from any subsequent sale of the property may be taken by the lender to recover any amount that the borrower still owes under the loan. An acceleration clause ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bond Credit Rating
In investment, the bond credit rating represents the credit worthiness of corporate or government bonds. The ratings are published by credit rating agencies and used by investment professionals to assess the likelihood the debt will be repaid. Credit rating agencies Credit rating is a highly concentrated industry with the "Big Three" credit rating agencies – Fitch Ratings, Moody's and Standard & Poor's (S&P) – controlling approximately 95% of the ratings business. Credit rating agencies registered as such with the SEC are " nationally recognized statistical rating organizations". The following firms are currently registered as NRSROs: A.M. Best Company, Inc.; DBRS Ltd.; Egan-Jones Rating Company; Fitch, Inc.; HR Ratings; Japan Credit Rating Agency; Kroll Bond Rating Agency; Moody's Investors Service, Inc.; Rating and Investment Information, Inc.; Morningstar Credit Ratings, LLC; and Standard & Poor's Ratings Services. Under the Credit Rating Agency Reform Act, an NR ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
