Serious fun

In this interesting conversation with former Brazilian President Fernando Henrique Cardoso (March 2006, hat tip: P), the man who did most in recent times to improve Brazil's economy touches on the two faces of Brazil: a commitment to ideas and hard work, open to the world, seriousness of purpose; versus a certain 'clownishness" and "frivolity" which at times appears to make the country "ungovernable".

Where next ?

My son will, in August, be travelling back to the land of his birth for the second time without me. I expect the riots will have blown over by then but perhaps not. Maybe this "uprising" will be something unprecedented ?

Although in my last post I said I wasn't going to comment further, the fact that Brazil has been in the headlines this past week or so, and hearing the typically ignorant commentators in the UK, has provoked me to say a couple more things.

And lo, it came to pass

I have resisted posting any "I told you so's" about the Brazilian economy. I will continue to resist .. apart from this one. Today I read: "But stagnant growth is now hitting Brazilians in their pockets. After successive wage rises, this year’s pay deals barely outpace inflation. Already indebted, households are reining in their spending. Consumer confidence is falling and more people say rising prices are their biggest economic worry."

Two and a quarter years ago, in my first blog post, I wrote: "On a related note, all the excited chatter about Brazil's swelling middle class must be taken with a big pinch of salt. There's no way that the average salary allows for the kind of disposable income which economists and sociologists generally assume when they talk about the middle classes in developed countries. In fact a good chunk of the Brazilian middle class has been hit hardest by Lula's Robin Hood politics, seeing their wages stagnate while the cost of living rockets."