Rio Goes Ooooops!
Comments (0) As readers of this blog know, I’m a fan of Rio de Janeiro. A promoter, almost. So I’m not too excited about this news. Nope.
Sadly, Brazil’s economy is not in such good shape either.
Category: BRIC
Comments (0) 
Well, At Least He Didn’t Tweet Photos of Himself in His Underwear
By Gregory Taggart, June 3, 2011 6:46 pm
Dilma’s Chief of Staff, Antonio Palocci, may be on the way out, apparently for making a little too much money a little too fast. In fact, he somehow increased his wealth by $R10 million in one month. Not bad for government work.
Interestingly, as with Timothy Geitner, or TurboTax fame, claim to fame is that he’s indispensable. Or not.
Dois to Watch
By Gregory Taggart, May 24, 2011 10:15 am
Two (dois) Brazilian businessmen are on Fast Company’s list of the 100 most creative business people: Nizan Guanaes, an advertising executive and president of Grupo ABC , and Eike Batista, number 8 on Forbes Magazine’s list of the richest people in the world.
At Least It’s in the Right Direction
By Gregory Taggart, May 16, 2011 12:02 pm
Only 374 people were murdered in Rio in March 2011, down from 492 during the same month the year before. Compare that with New York City, where in November 2010, the murder count for the entire year to that point was 464.
Interestingly, if we go back to 1990, New York saw 2,245 of its citizens murdered, a rate of 187 a month. Thus, things are much better in NYC. Maybe there’s hope for Rio.
Let’s Hope So
By Gregory Taggart, May 11, 2011 5:58 pm
According to Henrique Meirelles, president of Brazil’s Olympic committee, preparation of the Rio Games will result in a new model of public administration by promoting more coordination between all levels of government, municipal, state, and federal.
I’ve interviewed more than a couple of people involved in those preparations, two of them government officials, and Meirelles has his work cut out for him. It’s not an impossible job, and he’s right, the Games will focus attention on the need to work together. Whether he’s up to the task remains to be seen.
Not to Pick on The Donald
By Gregory Taggart, May 4, 2011 2:27 pm
But this guy is richer than you are and apparently has the facts to back up his braggadocio. Oh, and better hair.
And he seems to have bigger things in mind than himself. A quote from the Jornal do Brasil story (translation mine):
Minha missão é mostrar a jovens brasileiros que eles podem se orgulhar do que estão produzindo. Alguém tem que mostrar que é possível. [My mission is to demonstrate to young Brazilians that they can be proud of what they’re producing. Someone has to show (them) what is possible.]
Brazil Must Be Doing Something Right
By Gregory Taggart, April 25, 2011 10:57 am
Greenpeace activists mark the 25th anniversary of Chernobyl with a puff of orange smoke in front of BNDES, Brazil’s development bank, to get it to suspend financing of the Angra 3 nuclear plant.
All the coal miners who’ve died in mining accidents were unavailable for comment.
More Walter Russell Mead on Brazil
By Gregory Taggart, April 22, 2011 9:26 am
As I say below, this time Brazil’s resurgence is for real. So does Walter Russell Mead, with lots of qualifiers. His analysis is obviously much more in depth than mine–I based mine largely on a YouTube video, for heck’s sake. An interesting read.
At Least Someone’s Interested in Controlling Inflation
By Gregory Taggart, April 21, 2011 10:07 am
Brazil’s Central Bank raises its interest rate 0.25% to 12% out of fear of losing control of inflation. And the usual suspects cry foul.
Brazil. This Time It’s For Real — And Here’s Why
By Gregory Taggart, April 20, 2011 9:14 pm
Brazil has experienced so many failed coming out parties, that many people in the know are wary that the economic boom currently taking place in Central and South America’s largest country and strongest economy–and one of the four BRICs–will fail as well.
I don’t think so. This time it’s for real. I could point to all kinds of economic indicators to support my position. Instead, I’ll direct you to a YouTube video. But first, a little background.
Three years ago–February 2008 to be exact–my wife and I traveled to Brazil, her for the first time, me for my first visit since my two-year mission to that beautiful country back in 1971-73. I spent most of my time in Rio, though I also served in Vitoria, Espirito Santo, and in Joao Pessoa, Permanbuco. Janet and I spent 10 days in Rio. Among other things, we toured the Theatro Municipal, a beautiful building inspired by the Paris Opera of Charles Garnier. Though its previous beauty was obvious, the Theatro was in terrible condition due to years of neglect.
Today I was on the phone with Pedro Casotti of Rio Negocios, Rio’s business development agency. I asked him about the Theatro. “Were they ever going to refurbish it?”
They had already, he told me. I’d wondered about that ever since I’d read that President Obama gave a speech in the Theatro earlier this month. After we hung up, I searched YouTube for a video of the Theatro. What I discovered tells me that this time Brazil’s resurgence is for real. Watch the video. I think you’ll agree.
Themocracy