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The herculean struggle to restore stability in Puerto Rico and a grave warning for America
“I could not put down David Skeel’s new book. It is at once an engrossing and personal narrative, an illuminating analysis of inventive legal and political strategies, a sobering examination of responses to the debt crisis in Puerto Rico, and a preview of messes to come.”
—Martha Minow, Professor, Harvard University, author of When Should Law Forgive?
“This is a gripping and insightful book. David Skeel has written not only an essential history of Puerto Rico’s fiscal travails but a profound meditation on the condition of American politics.”
—Yuval Levin, The American Enterprise Institute
Puerto Rico is America’s forgotten island, and since 2015, the site of the largest governmental default in U.S. history. After the island’s governor declared its $70 billion of debt “not payable,” House minority leader Nancy Pelosi extracted a promise from House Speaker Paul Ryan to “take action” on Puerto Rico in return for the Democratic votes he needed for must-pass December 2015 spending legislation. This handshake led to a 2016 law called PROMESA (“promise” in Spanish), which subjected Puerto Rico to an oversight board, but also gave Puerto Rico the power to file for bankruptcy, a right no state has.
Weaving together his first-hand experience as a member of the board—and during the crucial period, its chair— with astute insight into the key federal and local lawmakers, David Skeel recounts the epic struggle to restructure Puerto Rico’s debt and restore fiscal stability, a battle protracted by the most destructive hurricane in a century, a scandal in the governor’s office, earthquakes, and the pandemic. The board was challenged both by protestors furious at the colonial implications of the board and by bondholders unhappy with the restructuring, one of which enlisted former New Jersey governor Chris Christie in a scheme to derail Skeel’s reappointment.
Promise Land is a riveting story about the island Theodore Roosevelt urged America’s leadership to seize at the end of the Spanish-American War, and about how governmental crises are handled in twenty-first century America.
"PROMESA was the hardest vote I ever took during my over three decades in Congress. Professor Skeel’s book is a must read for anyone who wants to understand the intricacies of the biggest municipal bankruptcy in history, whose impacts Puerto Ricans are still living with today. The book also provides an inside look at how political and financial elites in Puerto Rico and on Wall Street worked together to line their pockets and sell out working Puerto Ricans."
—Congresswoman Nydia Velázquez
"This is a gripping and insightful book. David Skeel has written not only an essential history of Puerto Rico’s fiscal travails but a profound meditation on the condition of American politics."
—Yuval Levin, The American Enterprise Institute
"I could not put down David Skeel’s new book. It is at once an engrossing and personal narrative, an illuminating analysis of inventive legal and political strategies, a sobering examination of responses to the debt crisis in Puerto Rico, and a preview of messes to come. What combination of negotiation, legislation, rights enforcement, and human caring can simultaneously respect legal rights of debt holders and workers with pensions? Or navigate legacies of colonialism, contemporary politics, contending top-flight lawyers and a shifting array of judges? Read this compelling book, and see lawyers and politicians working to solve a crisis with repercussions for us all."
—Martha Minow, Professor, Harvard University, author of When Should Law Forgive?
"A fascinating, careful, and important analysis of a transformative chapter in the economic history of Puerto Rico."
—Roberto González Nieves, OFM, Archbishop of San Juan de Puerto Rico
"Promise Land by David Skeel is a fascinating and elegantly told account of one of the most important and complex sovereign workouts in history. The situation Puerto Rico found itself in was unique and necessitated a degree of innovation rarely required in sovereign or municipal debt workouts (this was some of both). Skeel is one of the leading bankruptcy scholars of our time, which means he tells this story with a deep understanding of its historical context. It helps immeasurably that he was himself a key player, yet he writes with humility, wit, and self awareness. This book is going directly on to the reading list for my class on financial crisis resolution."
—Mitu Gulati, Professor of International Law, University of Virginia, author of Contract Hazards: Lawyers and Their Landmines