Gallagher and Heine Write Op-Ed on Puerto Rico’s Role in U.S. Pandemic Response
Kevin Gallagher, Professor of Global Development Policy and Director of the Global Development Policy Center at the Frederick S. Pardee School of Global Studies at Boston University, and Ambassador Jorge Heine, Research Professor at the Pardee School, wrote an op-ed in The Hill on Puerto Rico and how investment in the island territory would help bolster the U.S. response to COVID-19 and future pandemics.
In the op-ed, Gallagher and Heine argue that the restoration of Section 936 of the U.S. Tax Code, which could help get Puerto Rico back on stable financial footing, grow its pharmaceutical and medical equipment supplies production, and safeguard the U.S. from future pandemics.
An excerpt:
Restoring Section 936 of the U.S. Tax Code could be a win-win proposition. Rather than spending years trying to find ways to bring industry back to U.S. territory, Puerto Rico presents us with a shovel-ready alternative — if the returning firms are required to share profit with workers and the island as a whole. Such a move would help save Puerto Rico from decades of crisis, and help prepare us for the next pandemic.
The full op-ed can be read here.
Kevin Gallagher is a professor of global development policy at Boston University’s Frederick S. Pardee School of Global Studies, where he directs the Global Development Policy Center. He is author or co-author of six books, including most recently, The China Triangle: Latin America’s China Boom and the Fate of the Washington Consensus. Read more about him here.
Ambassador Jorge Heine is a Research Professor at the Pardee School of Global Studies at Boston University. He has served as ambassador of Chile to China (2014-2017), to India (2003-2007) and to South Africa (1994-1999), and as a Cabinet Minister in the Chilean Government. Read more on him here.