--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Bhairitu <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > do.rflex wrote: > > --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Bhairitu <noozguru@> wrote: > > > >> I wonder what our Brazilian members think of this article: > >> http://english.aljazeera.net/focus/2008/08/200881884358873790.html > >> > > > > > > >From the article: > > > > "The US dollar is at its weakest level against the Brazilian real in > > decades. > > > > In 2004, every dollar sent home bought approximately four Brazilian > > reais (R$). > > > > Today one dollar fetches only about one real and 63 cents." > > == > > == > > > > That makes it tougher for me because as a retired US gringo my > > retirement income is in US dollars. > > > > But yes, the economy is booming here. Interestingly Brazil is > > currently energy independent using both gasoline from their oil wells > > and ethanol from their sugar cane. They also recently discovered a > > massive oil field off the coast that could make Brazil one of the > > major oil exporters in the years to come. > Now the caution here would be "is this a bubble?" IOW, you're friends > and neighbors could get the impression this could last forever and put > themselves into deep debt and the economy goes crashing down in five > years. Several years ago on an Indian discussion group they were gaga > over their big economic boom there and I warned them that what goes up > must come down and they didn't want to hear it. But now that bubble has > started to burst over there, some of those people will wish they had > listened.
I don't think Brazil is anywhere near any 'bubble' situation. Lots of difficult challenges are ahead. The economy is in very early stages of growth and has a very, very long way to go. There is huge potential but there is still massive poverty to consider in the equation. And I can't leave out that there is a serious crime problem and that the politicians and judiciary are deeply corrupt. One thing Brazil has in its favor is they stay out of messing in the internal affairs of other countries [unlike one nation I could name] and thereby are avoiding dumbass wars because of it.
