The way to become a top CEO in Europe or the US has often come from societies that promoted the top achievers in schools and universities into positions of great influence and great wealth. With hard work and luck a person of normal means could often get into high positions, …
In an article for the Economist’s “The World in 2012,” President Dilma Rousseff argues for “the Brazilian model” to be emulated by other developing countries. The essay rightly emphasizes Brazil’s record in poverty alleviation and environmental issues. At times though, Rousseff sounds off cue. For example, she writes:
We should all …
Latin America’s two largest economies started 2011 on different notes. Mexico’s growth was set to ring up about 4 percent, with drug violence clipping about a point off growth, according to BBVA Bancomer, and reliance on a weakening U.S. economy wielding another discount. In April, auto production, a key industry …
Brazil 2011-2012: Vamos Lá!
Summary of the past year: Well, in summary, from soaring to just plain growing. Economists surveyed by the Central Bank expect GDP to grow 3.0% in 2011 (adjusted real terms) versus 7.5% in 2010. As a recent Reuters report on Brazil puts it: “…corporate leaders, investors and …
According to a recent poll by Latinobarómetro, a public opinion survey conducted in 18 countries in the Latin American region, 45% of Brazilians agree that “democracy is preferable to any other type of government.”[1] Alarmingly, the figure is down from 54% last year. …
Brazil has grown in confidence over the last two years regarding its formerly unknown status as a world power outside of Latin America. Brazil shared its influence with the US during internal troubles in Honduras and was one of the key sources of aid after the quake in Haiti. Brazil …
In November 2010 the presidents of Latin America’s two largest economies pledged to hash out a free trade agreement. Per logic, Mexico has a consumer class of 100-plus million, Brazil twice that: each country stands to benefit. Yet free trade by numbers went out of vogue in the 1990s. Still, …
Sandwiched between pages 78 and 79 of the current volume of Foreign Affairs is a sponsored essay on Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff. At the bottom of the article are pics of two business leaders and one high-profile minister, Wagner Rossi. Mr. Rossi was Brazil’s minister of agriculture, at least until …
Author’s Note: Ruchir Sharma, head of emerging markets at Morgan Stanley, recently penned a piece in TIME asserting that Brazil is “the un-China.” That comparison inspired this post. Mexico Today, a public-private enterprise of which I am a paid contributor, provided some data.
Mexico’s technocrats have been seething at comparisons …
Scarcely a month ago, market analysts were calling for Latin America’s central banks to hike interest rates. But on the heels of weak US quarterly GDP numbers and signs that the EU debt crisis may envelop Spain and Italy, market analysts are now forecasting lending rate cuts for Latin America’s …
While the markets continue to create waves of pressure on the US and Europe and investors worldwide, America’s downgrade due to political infighting within the United States was met with a confirmed Triple A rating for it’s neighbor, Canada. Canada is not immune to partisan politics, but in …
I can’t let go of an article from the July 2 edition of the Economist. “Who’s Overheating” proposes an “emerging-markets overheating index” that crunched six factors:
1) Inflation
2) GDP growth since 2007, compared to the past decade
3) Unemployment
4) Credit growth
5) Real interest rates, and
6) Change in current-account balance.
Twenty-seven …
More and more, Brazil seems to be caught between–and battling against–the greenback and the yuan. One result: the real is now among the “most overvalued” currencies in the world.
Part of the problem is the whop-jawed global economy. The world’s largest economy has been slow to recover from the 2008 …
This is the first of several review pieces on books about Brazil that I’ll be writing in the coming months on the blog. Please participate in the discussion by sharing your views on these books in the comments section.
Brazil is at a crucial juncture in its history. Already the …
Dilma Rousseff’s (PT) victory over centre-right candidate José Serra (PSDB) last October transformed Lula’s former Chief of Staff into the first female President in Brazil’s history. It is fair to say that Rousseff’s victory gained ample international media attention for two central reasons: first, the “economic marvel” of …
