The United States government assumed too big a role in the Puerto Rican economy, and its largesse enabled the commonwealth's government to do the same. Through hubris, clumsiness and sheer size, these governments knocked Puerto Rico off the promising path that it was following, and the island's economy is now lost in a thicket of bad incentives. Two federal intrusions stand out: an oversized welfare state, and misguided rules on business investment.

Economist