Although the issue of Pueto Rico’s insolvency has been buried beneath other important news, Congress and the White House have been fighting over it lately. The island territory is in crisis because its improvident governments have accumulated $72 billion in debt, and they can’t keep it up.

There’s plenty of blame to go around. Part of the problem is of Puerto Rico’s making, and part is the result of federal laws on shipping and the federal minimum wage. But whoever deserves the lion’s share, Puerto Rico’s debt is now 70 percent of its economy. The governor admitted last year that the island cannot possibly pay it back. The debt is too large, and debt service costs unsustainable, consuming a third of all revenues.