https://youtu.be/MStanSKuw90

Join host Daven Michaels live from San Juan for a riveting conversation with Alberto Bacó, former Secretary of Economic Development for Puerto Rico.

In this powerful episode, I sat down with former Puerto Rico Secretary of Economic Development Alberto Bacó to unpack the island’s most important economic inflection points—three that fueled unprecedented growth, and three that led to deep economic decline.

Alberto shares firsthand insight into how incentives like Operation Bootstrap, Section 936, and later Act 20 and Act 22 transformed Puerto Rico into a manufacturing and job-creation powerhouse—at one point generating over 140,000 jobs and attracting world-class businesses across the island. He also explains why those incentives were dismantled, how political decisions shifted economic activity overseas, and why Puerto Rico lost more than 100,000 high-paying jobs in the process.

The conversation also explores the loss of the U.S. Navy presence, the collapse of the banking sector, the island’s historic bankruptcy, and the long-term consequences for investors, workers, and families.

This episode is essential viewing for anyone interested in Puerto Rico’s past, present, and future—especially investors, founders, policymakers, and those considering relocation or business on the island.

Guests

Alberto Baco

Alberto Bacó is a former Secretary of Economic Development and Commerce of Puerto Rico and a key figure behind the island’s modern economic incentive framework, including Act 20 and Act 22. With decades of experience in economic development, manufacturing, and public policy, he has worked directly with U.S. federal leaders, multinational corporations, and local entrepreneurs to drive job creation and investment. Alberto brings rare, firsthand insight into Puerto Rico’s economic transformation—its greatest successes, its most damaging setbacks, and the strategic lessons shaping its future.