Puerto Rico became an American colony in 1898, achieving self-rule after the Great Depression. The standard view is that Puerto Rican living standards stagnated before the policy changes of the New Deal and it has lost ground on the mainland since the early 1970s. I show these claims are mistaken. Using a new GDP index for 1900 to 1940, I show that income per capita grew at impressive rates during direct American rule and Puerto Rico escaped the worst ravages of the Great Depression. In addition, I find the recent growth slowdown is partly a statistical artifact.

中文翻译：

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发展受阻？美国世纪中的波多黎各

波多黎各于 1898 年成为美国殖民地，在大萧条后实现了自治。标准观点是，波多黎各人的生活水平在新政政策变化之前就停滞不前，自1970年代初以来在大陆已经失地。我表明这些说法是错误的。使用 1900 年至 1940 年的新 GDP 指数，我表明在美国直接统治期间人均收入以惊人的速度增长，波多黎各摆脱了大萧条的最严重破坏。此外，我发现最近的增长放缓部分是统计上的假象。