Brazil Future Economic Super Power?

Nov 19, 2009 - After decades of political instability, poverty and uncertanty has Brazil finally hit her stride?  We all know that Brazilians know how to party and play (football) but can they roll with the G8 and give them a run for their money?  In 2001 Goldmen Sachs placed Brazil with Russia, India and China as the economies that would come to dominate the world.   Some may find it queer to place a country with a growth rate as skimpy as its swim suits, an economic fragility that consistantly suffered with any financial crisis, chronic political instability and a history of squandering economic potential could have so effectively put those wose behind them to pave the way for such a prosperous future.  China is said to lead the world out of our currant economic down turn with Brazil hot on their heals.  Brazil did not avoid the down turn but was among the last in and the first out.  Their economy is growing at a rate of 5% annualy and will pick up in the short term as new deep sea oil fields come online.  Brazil also enjoys a food and mineral trade with many Asian countries. Sometime after 2014 Brazil is scheduled to become the worlds 5th largest economy saying to Great Britan and France uhm excuse me I beleive that's my seat.  In many ways Brazil is said to outclass the other up and comers (Chine, India and Russia).  Unlike China and Russia it is a democracy.  Unlike India it has no insurgent, ethnic, religious hostility or unfriendly neighbors.  Unlike Russia it exports more than oil and arms and treats it's investors with respect.  Is that code for arss kissing? - 4 Comments

McDonald's to become Mona Lisa's new neighbor

Oct 05, 2009 - Why? McD's doesn't have to be every where. PARIS – French culture and American convenience will come together in December — thanks to plans by the McDonald's restaurant chain to hang its shingle in the shadow of the Louvre. - 36 Comments

From The UK - The demise of the dollar

Oct 06, 2009 - The demise of the dollar In a graphic illustration of the new world order, Arab states have launched secret moves with China, Russia and France to stop using the US currency for oil trading By Robert Fisk In the most profound financial change in recent Middle East history, Gulf Arabs are planning – along with China, Russia, Japan and France – to end dollar dealings for oil, moving instead to a basket of currencies including the Japanese yen and Chinese yuan, the euro, gold and a new, unified currency planned for nations in the Gulf Co-operation Council, including Saudi Arabia, Abu Dhabi, Kuwait and Qatar. Secret meetings have already been held by finance ministers and central bank governors in Russia, China, Japan and Brazil to work on the scheme, which will mean that oil will no longer be priced in dollars. The plans, confirmed to The Independent by both Gulf Arab and Chinese banking sources in Hong Kong, may help to explain the sudden rise in gold prices, but it also augurs an extraordinary transition from dollar markets within nine years. - 7 Comments

From Citizens to "Stakeholders": The New American Constitution

Sep 08, 2009 - From Citizens to "Stakeholders": The New American Constitution By Angelo M. Codevilla "I'm going to get everybody concerned around a big table where all can express their views and their needs. And I'll express mine, and that will make sense of them all because I'll be president." - 2 Comments

Healthcare: Japanese Style

Aug 25, 2009 - MartiniLush had asked me about healthcare in Japan and I never got the chance to give a more detail overview.  I was skimming the news just now and I saw that NYT had a pretty good article on it so I thought I shared.   Health Care Abroad: Japan By Sarah Arnquist John Creighton Campbell is professor emeritus of political science at the University of Michigan and a visiting researcher at the Tokyo University Institute of Gerontology. He co-authored “The Art of Balance in Health Policy: Maintaining Japan’s Low-Cost, Egalitarian System” (Cambridge University Press, 1998). - 9 Comments

The risk of a double-dip recession is rising

Aug 23, 2009 - The risk of a double-dip recession is rising By Nouriel Roubini Published: August 23 2009 18:55 | Last updated: August 23 2009 18:55 T he global economy is starting to bottom out from the worst recession and financial crisis since the Great Depression. In the fourth quarter of 2008 and first quarter of 2009 the rate at which most advanced economies were contracting was similar to the gross domestic product free-fall in the early stage of the Depression. Then, late last year, policymakers who had been behind the curve finally started to use most of the weapons in their arsenal. - 0 Comments

The Cloward/Piven Strategy of Economic Recovery

Aug 13, 2009 - By Nancy Coppock February 07, 2009 Using borrowed money for a band-aid bailout of the economy should seem backwards to most people. However, it likely is a planned strategy to promote radical change. Those naively believing that President Obama is simply rewarding his far-left base, and will then move to the political center, must wise up. - 9 Comments