Instituto de la Ciencia y Tecnología en América Latina (ICTAL)

    Any young idealist would love to see their country thrive economically, to be proud of economic entities formed at home that thrive locally and internationally, just as we are proud of our world-class Olympic athletes. (The love of "patria" drives many of these young idealists to commit personal sacrifices for the general welfare of the nation that often go tragically unrecognized.)  However, one cannot be blind to the simple facts of life, and pretend that economic development is merely the result of our will to do so: 'development by wishful thinking', it might be called.  Although common statistics (the widely used CIA World Fact Book) show that the local rate of literacy is at some 94%, according to some scholars the actual rate of illiteracy stands closer to 40%.  Approximately 15% are illiterate, and some 27% are functionally illiterate.  This simply means that, despite the tremendous emphasis placed on education as a governmental policy, the island lacks the human capital necessary to produce a genuine 'knowledge economy': one in which innovation itself serves as a means of economic revenue via licencing, for example.  The hard and 'cold' reality of educational attainment, if the previous statistics are true, indicates that the island is not ready to let go of its current "foreign" industrial incentives mechanisms.  Until the quantity and quality of its educational system is truly reformed, and we generate a self-sustaining body the necessary technicians, scientists, and engineers required for an 'internally driven' economy, the conclusion is an obvious one: the Ley de Incentivos Industriales needs to be renewed, for now.