Erik Reuter wrote: > >> I wasn't aware that Brazil had a troubled economy now - OTOH, the >> economy has never been so untroubled. > > Brazil has definitely been getting better, but it still has a ways to > go. Budget deficit of 4-5% of GDP. Unemployment at around 12%. Long > term bonds are yielding 10%. Inflation was 6.9% in the 12 months to > October and 14% the year before. > Google? :-)
> That's not a safe and non-volatile > investment by any stretch of the imagination. It was only about 2 years > ago that people were seriously worried about a default on the government > debt. > Because we elected Lula, and there were serious doubts that he was crazy [some USA newspapers even named a second Axis of Evil, with Lula.br, Chaves.ve and Castro.cu] > Nations change slowly, and even after the fundamentals have > improved, emerging bond markets have a long memory (Brazil defaulted in > 1826, 1898, 1902, 1914, 1931, 1937 and 1983) > Yep > http://www.economist.com/displaystory.cfm?story_id=701377 > Ah, so it's not Google! > Here's an excerpt from a July 2001 Economist article [the US doesn't > look too good by these criteria, now!]: > Things changed _a lot_ from 2001. And it might be even better, with the raise of oil prices and increased oil production, Brazil may even become an _exporter_ of oil. Alberto Monteiro _______________________________________________ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
