Top 10 reasons Puerto Rico's economy will continue to decline

There's a lot of things on my mind, that I want to share, but I have to get this out. It serves as the basis for my conclusion that nothing can be done to "fix" our economy. Only massive failure and subsequent crisis will provide any type of empowering motivation for change.

1. There are more people than there are jobs.
2. To accommodate the overflow of workers, the government hired a lot them, then bloated to become the islands largest employer.
3. Our most talented graduates leave the island for more lucrative and exciting opportunities. (see Gil's latest post about this...)
   
4. Little research and development in our universities and basically none in our leading companies.
5. A stubborn focus on Puerto Rico as the market for our products and services.
6. The three doomsday horseman of the apocalypse: corruption, lawlessness, and mass consumerism.
7. An unhealthy belief that tourists can be bought through advertising instead of being influenced through exceptional experiences and word of mouth marketing.
8. The other three horsemen of the apocalypse, anti-small business culture, a zero-sum mentality, and a belief in life-style businesses.
9. Little or no immigration of new citizens seeking a better life.
10. A complete taboo against recognizing our problems as problems and encouraging discussion and mobilization to address those problems.
11. Great disparity in the distribution of wealth, capital, resources, information, and opportunity.
12. A massive unregulated, off-the-books, cash-based, pay your fair share underground economy.
13. Denial tending towards mass hypnosis, acceptance of the status quo, and reticence.
14. A failing infrastructure (transportation, power, sewage, solid-waste disposal) that can not withstand significant increases in demand.
15. A collection of self-serving, self-preserving political, governmental, and social non-profit systems.
16. An educational system which under serves students and perpetuates the status quo.
17. An economy directly connected to the availability of low cost foreign oil.

In my opinion these are the core reasons that working with what we have will only result in what we already have. Without addressing these core issues, anything we do will be temporary and short lived.