[Michaeluj]

I am mostly okay with that, with many given thumbs up, although I have a few small problems:

I would declare all domestically owed debt null and void.

I am morally against this, but considering how you plan on allieviating it with good currency and so-on, I guess it would be practical, since you've got to get the people totally on your side for the present time.

3. I would reduce the minimum wage to $1 an hour, and cut all wages in half. I would also obligate companies to maintain their payroll costs constant or near-constant, effectively forcing them to hire everyone who doesn't have a job. As this would completely squeeze out unemployment and eliminate the need for welfare, I would eliminate all welfare benefits save for disability benefits and benefits for students.

Why bother with the first two? I find the first one is just pointless, with at least equal give-and-take at best, and the second one doesn't need any government help, right?

Why force everyone to be hired immediately? Wouldn't most of those people just be dead weight that's doing random chores while everyone else scrams quickly for what to do with them? Actually, that would probably work well if the unemployment wasn't so high, since there wouldn't be too much deadweight to slow down or to be organized. Hmmm, this is a tough thing to add up on the spot: increase motivation but increase the amount of things holding one back....Although the things holding the said one back wouldn't be too much of a bother...even if they just act as extra janitors...

7. I would implement a comprehensive industrialization policy, including among other things subsidies, protection of strategic industries and possibly the erection of state-owned enterprises for the purpose of developing competitive industries, to be at least partially privatized later. I would grant tax free status to any re-exported goods and rebate tariffs for capital goods.

Again, morally against, but willing to settle for if things still remain rough.

8. I would reform the education system by introducing tracking methods, and dividing high school into vocational/technical and pre-college tracks, the latter lasting two years and including intensive math and science training in preparation to math, science and technical/professional degrees. I would also seek to "decredentialize" the economy by introducing objective employment tests and encouraging employers to use them (for autodidacts who did not pursue a formal education). This could apply to even professions such as engineering.

I would let need define the amount of education, with present poorer people able to fund their own education when nearly full employment is reached and wages rise. (The present education would be set up by grants from enterprizers trying to get the most productive capabilities made in the current arena of available resources)

[Dr House]

Michael, Puerto Rico is a developing economy with a GDP per capita of $18,000. My first act is squeezing out unemployment by force because at present the majority of the adult population is not working, and the welfare services bill is being footed by the US federal government. The island government cannot afford it, nor should it even try if it's gonna have any resources to devote towards economic development.

Also, I forgot to add I would later reform welfare along the lines of a make-work program, and provide a small state stipend to the working poor.

The industrial policy is a basic requirement to create the economies of scale necessary for a developing economy to become competitive in high-value industrial sectors. Every single western country employed one in the 19th century, as did three of the four Asian tigers (the odd man out being Hong Kong, which thrived as a tax shelter and a re-export hub for Chinese goods). Once it becomes fully developed, economic planning will no longer be needed, though some level of industrial policymaking (most notably forced savings, consumer credit bans and state R&D investment) will remain.

[Michaeluj]

And how is any of that contradictory to what I said? In fact, most of this is exactly the same as what you always say.

[Dr House]

I was just explaining why the need to eliminate unemployment overrides economic efficiency concerns (which you cited, accurately in my opinion), and my stance on industrial policy, which I guess you're already familiar with.

About your education proposal, I support freedom of choice through school vouchers, but eligible private schools need to be subject to some regulations (required curriculum items, mostly). I'm a little leery of private businesses providing private education, as it might lead to a producer inflation spiral similar to today's employer-driven healthcare clusterfuck, but then again I'm not providing perverse incentives for benefits-chasing like wage freezes (which is what spawned employer-provided healthcare) or income taxes.

[Michaeluj]

Fair enough. Give and take what you can when it looks even a bit more decent than without it.