Dan R. Mastromarco (Argus Group, Arlington, VA) has published Resuscitating the Granddaddy of Corporate Welfare, 40 Tax Notes Int’l 1071 (Dec. 19, 2005) & 109 Tax Notes 1453 (Dec. 12, 2005), also available on the Tax Analysts web site as Doc 2005-23963, 2005 WTD 244-8, 2005 TNT 238-23.  Here is the Conclusion:

The territories of the United States face a daunting economic challenge at the advent of the 21st century. Even Puerto Rico, the shining star of the Caribbean, has a large share of the population below the federal poverty line (44%) and persistently high unemployment (11%). The manufacturing base created in the 1950s is eroding under the pressure of NAFTA and other trade agreements, as the territories’ wage advantage in unskilled labor disappears.

What that means is that the engines of growth must be overhauled and reignited, and those engines must be allowed to operate at peak performance, unencumbered by ill-conceived and failed federal tax policies. Congress should heed its own advice. Let the GAO do its work before opening up this foul-smelling Pandora’s box. Perhaps the best argument against extension of section 936 is the argument some chose to use for it. In a letter to Congress, Interior Secretary Gale Norton said she "strongly urged that Congress [extend section 936 for the two canneries] because of the American Samoa’s dependence on this one industry." Sustainable growth benefiting the territories must, in the long run, depend on the success of local entrepreneurs and not the whims of federal tax largess.