I Love Brazil

.

June 18, 2008

SouthAmerica: President Lula of Brazil must be happy right now, since he has been calling for the United States to drop its tariff of $ 54 cents per gallon on imported ethanol.

I am against Brazil exporting ethanol to other countries – ethanol worked well for Brazil, but that is a partial energy solution for Brazil and in my opinion should not be exported to other countries around the world. As a matter of fact Brazil should adopt a high tax on ethanol for the export market to discourage the export of ethanol from Brazil.

The Bush administration in concert with the US mainstream media are calling for the lift on regulations about offshore oil drilling in the coast of the US and they also want to explore for oil all over Alaska.

After the oil shock of the 1970’s a country has to be very DUMB not to do something about its dependency on foreign oil. And after such oil crisis like the one in the 1970’s and such crisis it was not enough to wake up a country such as the US and 30 years later the US is even more dependent than ever on foreign oil – what can I say?

What kind of superpower let itself been caught with its pants down and be so vulnerable to the point that it is laughable?

I understand that the United States is a crisis prone country and that Americans just react when it is too late and a problem has skyrocketed or are ready to explode and at that point Americans overreact and they make bad decisions trying to fix the latest mess.

That has been the global perception for many years of the new American way…. And today Americans look lost – running around like chickens without a head.

Americans look lost in Iraq, in Afghanistan, during the Katrina crisis, during the sub-prime mess, during the current oil crisis, and the list could go on and on….

Since the Clinton administration left town in January of 2001, the US has had in the last 8 years the most incompetent group of people running the United States since 1776.

The incompetent Jackasses drum up the US energy policy in the basement of the Whitehouse when Jackass # 2 Dickhead Cheney cooked up some secret deals that became the new energy policy of the US and then they adopted the crap that Cheney cooked up with his pals – these idiots decided to increase the average car mileage in the US by 2 miles per gallon by 2011.

I remember reading the detail of the new energy policy that was being adopted and thinking at the same time what kind of fools and idiots we have running this country.

Anyway, the shit has hit the fan and once more Americans are running around like chickens without a head – and as usual the American mainstream media is missing in action.

I am afraid that reacting as usual on their panic mode Americans might decide to drop the tariff on imported ethanol from Brazil.

In my opinion, that it would be a very bad move resulting in negative economic consequences on both countries.

.

 

Meireles, the Brazilian central bank prez in on Bloomie now for an hour. South America, I own two homes in Brazil and am invested in the country., have been for a decade.

 

hai, que bueno,

grin-go....


any tourist pictures?
any forests?
any beaches?
any ranches?

hey, another way to look at this are the B School programs,

they usually schedule a number of tours to various factories, companies and regions for business understanding and development,

so, what about links to those colleges?
what about links to those programs and tours also?

 

Things are looking up !!

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2008/soccer/06/22/bc.soc.pele.robbed.ap/index.html?cnn=yes

 

.

July 4, 2008

SouthAmerica: Somebody sent me an email a few weeks ago saying that today Sweden makes the best and most sophisticated fighter jets in the world.

Maybe Brazil should buy these fighter jets from Sweden – and make an agreement that they should be made in Brazil in partnership with Embraer.


******


“Brazil launches plan to buy new jet fighters”
By Raymond Colitt
Reuters - Thu Jul 3, 2008

BRASILIA, July 3 (Reuters) - Brazil's air force has launched the process to buy at least 36 fighter jets as part of a broader plan to modernize after most of its neighbors overhauled their fleets, officials said on Thursday.

Brazil wants to buy and build equipment to defend offshore oil assets and a porous Amazon border threatened by armed drug-traffickers and foreign guerrillas.

In February, Colombia ordered 24 Kfir bomber jets from Israel, while Venezuela acquired 24 Russian Sukhoi jets and said last month it is considering buying more. Chile bought new Boeing F-16s and Peru decided to upgrade its jets.

Upon taking office in January 2003, President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva scrapped plans to replace aging Mirage jets, saying he would use the money to feed the poor.

Now, the air force wants a multi-role fighter to replace its entire fleet of fighter jets over the next 15 years. That could increase the size of the order to more than 100 aircraft.

It chose six manufacturers to participate in the procurement process and last month requested information on their aircraft, the Air Force press department said.

The six selected models are Boeing's F-18 Super Hornet, Lockheed Martin's F-35 Lightning II, Dassault's Rafale, Sukhoi's SU-35, Saab's Gripen and Eurofighter's Typhoon.

Brazil is seeking a generous technology transfer package, possibly including local assembly, to help develop its own aviation industry and perform maintenance of the aircraft.

"Technology transfer is not a problem. Eurofighter has a history of partnership with its clients," said Valerio Bonelli, spokesman for Alenia, a partner in the Eurofighter consortium.

Boeing and Lockheed said they also were willing to support local industry development.

"The F-35 was designed from the outset to be an exportable product and the program has broken a lot of ground in the technology transfer realm," said John Kent, a spokesman for Lockheed Martin.

But the U.S. government, which would buy the aircraft from Boeing or Lockheed and sell it to the Brazilian government, has the last word on technology transfer.

Brazil has been leading an effort to create a South American Defense Council to help coordinate arms purchases. Though many of its neighbors have recently renewed their fleets, some manufactures still see Latin America's largest economy as possible regional defense hub.

"Brazil is an emerging market and a potential export base for us," said Damian Hills, spokesman for Boeing Integrated Defense Systems.

Brazil is already negotiating a strategic defense alliance with France, including the construction of a nuclear-powered submarine in Brazil.

Source: http://uk.reuters.com/article/governmentFilingsNews/idUKN0230831720080703

.

 

Great article. Thx.

Did you Mobius has Templeton primariy in Brazil and has done quite well with his fund?

http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/2006/jul/01/moneyinvestments.unittrustsoeics

One thing is clear - investing in emerging markets is classic rollercoaster territory. So how has Mr Mobius's biggest UK fund, the £1.8bn Templeton Emerging Markets Investment Trust (TEMIT), fared during the downturn? Over one year its share price is still showing a gain of 27% and over three years it's ahead 112%.

However, it significantly lags the Eastern European regional funds which are showing mouth-watering 250%-plus gains over the past five years. It also lags, although by a much smaller margin, general emerging market funds such as JP Morgan's and Genesis.

That may have something to do with TEMIT's allocation towards Latin America and the Far East rather than Eastern Europe and Russia. The trust is currently 18.5% invested in Brazil, 16% in South Korea and 14% in Hong Kong and China. Russia makes up just 6% of the fund, behind its holdings in Turkey (6.3%).

 

.

July 14, 2008

SouthAmerica: I mentioned on this forum that the Financial Times (UK) had published on July 8, 2008 an especial section about Brazil.

And someone asked me where he could find some of the articles.

Here are the links at the FT where you can find some of the articles:

“An impressive list of policy achievements”
By Jonathan Wheatley
FT - Published: July 8 2008
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/59cc308c-4c88-11dd-96bb-000077b07658.html?nclick_check=1


“Smooth path in jeopardy”
By Jonathan Wheatley
FT - Published: July 8 2008
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/d1366386-4c88-11dd-96bb-000077b07658.html


“Surfing a big wave of confidence”
By Richard Lapper and Jonathan Wheatley
FT - Published: July 8 2008
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/ed87d09c-4c88-11dd-96bb-000077b07658.html


The Amazon: Pragmatic solutions win the day
By Jonathan Wheatley
FT - Published: July 8 2008
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/33db1df6-4a45-11dd-891a-000077b07658.html


“In search of the perfect production partnership”
By Jonathan Wheatley
FT - Published: July 8 2008
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/720f022e-4c87-11dd-96bb-000077b07658.html
.

 

.
July 31, 2008

SouthAmerica: Today The New York Times published a great front page article about the Brazilian economy.

Thank you and congratulations to The New York Times for publishing such a extraordinary article about Brazil. Most the time when I see articles about Brazil for some reason they always have to add negative information even when the article is supposed to be positive about Brazil.

But the enclosed article published by the NYT was positive all the way and placed a very positive spotlight in the Brazilian economy.

I am aware of the major economic improvements that are happening in the Brazilian economy, but most people prefer to beat to death what has happened in the past - and these people are missing the boat.

I always have been proud of being a Brazilian, and now I am even prouder.


*****


“Strong Economy Propels Brazil to World Stage”
By ALEXEI BARRIONUEVO
Published: July 31, 2008
The New York Times

… Today her country is lifting itself up in much the same way. Brazil, South America’s largest economy, is finally poised to realize its long-anticipated potential as a global player, economists say, as the country rides its biggest economic expansion in three decades.

That growth is being felt in nearly all parts of the economy, creating a new class of super rich even as people like Ms. Sousa lift themselves into an expanding middle class.

… Despite investor fears about the leftist bent of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva when he was elected to lead Brazil in 2002, he has demonstrated a light touch when it comes to economic stewardship, avoiding the populist impulses of leaders in Venezuela and Bolivia.

Instead, he has fueled Brazil’s growth through a deft combination of respect for financial markets and targeted social programs, which are lifting millions out of poverty, said David Fleischer, a political analyst and emeritus professor at the University of Brasília. Ms. Sousa is one such beneficiary.

Long famous for its unequal distribution of wealth, Brazil has shrunk its income gap by six percentage points since 2001, more than any other country in South America this decade, said Francisco Ferreira, a lead economist at the World Bank.

… While the top 10 percent of Brazil’s earners saw their cumulative income rise by 7 percent from 2001 to 2006, the bottom 10 percent shot up by 58 percent, according to Marcelo Côrtes Neri, the director of the Center for Social Policies at the Getulio Vargas Foundation in Rio de Janeiro.

But Brazil is also outspending most of its neighbors on social programs, and overall public spending continues to be nearly four times as high as what Mexico spends as a percentage of its gross national product, Mr. Ferreira said.

The momentum of its economic expansion is expected to last. As the United States and parts of Europe struggle with recession and the fallout from housing crises, Brazil’s economy shows few of the vulnerabilities of other emerging powers.

It has greatly diversified its industrial base, has huge potential to expand a booming agricultural sector into virgin fields and holds a tremendous pool of untapped natural resources. New oil discoveries will thrust Brazil into the ranks of the global oil powers within the next decade.

Yet while exports of commodities like oil and agricultural goods have driven much of its recent growth, Brazil is less and less dependent on them, economists say, having the advantage of a huge domestic market — 185 million people — that has grown wealthier with the success of people like Ms. Sousa.

In fact, with a stronger currency and inflation mostly in check, Brazilians are on a spending spree that has become a prime motor for the economy, which grew 5.4 percent last year.

They are buying both Brazilian goods and a rising flood of imported products. Many businesses have relaxed credit terms to allow Brazilians to pay for refrigerators, cars and even plastic surgery over years instead of months, despite some of the highest interest rates in the world. In June the country reached 100 million credit cards issued, a 17 percent jump over last year.

At Casas Bahia, a modestly priced Brazilian furniture-store chain, the number of customers buying items on installment nearly tripled to 29.3 million from 2002 to 2007, said Sônia Mitaini, a company spokeswoman.

… Some economists say a slowdown in the rest of the world’s economy, especially in Asia, which is soaking up much of Brazil’s exports of soybeans and iron ore, could crimp growth here.

“But that probability is small,” said Alfredo Coutiño, the senior economist for Latin America for Moody’s Economy.com.

In fact, because Brazil’s economy has become so diversified in recent years, the country is less susceptible to a hangover from the struggling United States economy.

Brazil’s exports to the United States represent just 2.5 percent of Brazil’s gross national product, compared with 25 percent of G.N.P. for Mexican exports, according to Moody’s.

“What makes Brazil more resilient is that the rest of the world matters less,” said Don Hanna, the head of emerging market economics at Citibank.

The rest of the world certainly has helped. Soaring prices for minerals and other commodities have created a new class of super rich. The number of Brazilians with liquid fortunes exceeding $1 million grew by 19 percent last year, third behind China and India, according to a survey by Merrill Lynch and Capgemini....

You can read the entire article at:

Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/31/w...=2&sq="Alexei Barrionuevo"&st=cse&oref=slogin

.

 

one problem with brazil it starts with 'I love brazil' and it ends with 'brazil love I', government should start to talk about windfall taxes when the commodity bull restarts, perhaps income tax hikes as well. its for 'social justice'

 

interesting about sweden making the most sophisticated jet fighters in the world. I know that Saab is swedish and involved in it, but hard to imagine swedes building better jets than the americans...