In 1950, Congress enacted Operation Bootstrap, a stimulation package that would check several boxes. The tax-based incentives gave mainland manufacturers a new source of cheap American labor—Puerto Ricans; it created a new market for American stuff; and all this would result in a booming new trade route for US-flagged ships. Bolstered by these local and federal tax credits, mainland corporations raced to offshore manufacturing jobs to the island. Billions of dollars flowed to island from the US to build plants where lower wages meant things could get built cheaper, without the penalty of
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