Brazil

In the Financial Times, Javier Blas gives us the back-s

Article by Guest Contributor: Adalberto Maluf

Two years ago, Georgian forces shelled the capital of the breakaway region of South Ossetia hitting the base of Russian peacekeepers as well as civilian housing. Russia responded immediately with a massive ground and air assault and in five days inflicted a heavy defeat on its tiny neighbour, occupying a band of Georgian territory into the bargain.

- This week’s Economist sees Lexington bemoan those advancing the discourse of American exceptionalism, suggesting that “[t]he last thing the country needs is to be distracted from its practical problems by the quest for an elusive greatness”. Elsewhere, The Spectator’s Coffee House blog remembers Jimmy Carter’s fabled 1979 speech in which he spoke of a US “crisis of confidence”.

Another bumper issue of the Economist this week. Here are some snapshots from my four favourite articles:
Politics: A three page feature on Brazil, as its election campaign kicks off today. Constitutional term limits means that Lula is stepping down, despite 75% approval ratings (amazing, after eight years in office), but the country’s success means his chosen successor, Dilma Rousseff, is ahead in the polls:

The highly polarized debate on the role of industrial policy in development is dominated by discussions of the East Asian tigers, so good to see a discussion from another continent on what makes for successful state intervention – Brazil and biofuels.

Brazil's impressive progress in fighting hunger is largely thanks to an ambitious strategy called Zero Hunger.  WFP Executive Director Josette Sheeran spent the first day of a trip to Brazil visiting family farms and schools to see how it works. Video

Click here to view the embedded video.
It’s commonplace to describe the financial crisis as a once-in-a-century event, but I question whether that is the case. Perhaps we’re not in the midst of a short-lived financial shock, but a long crisis that stretches back into the 1990s.

Morumbi means ‘green hill’. Had it meant ‘Violet Hill’ it would have been perfection. Still, it’s a word of indigenous origin and I love the sound of it: doesn’t it make you think of a crescendo of noise? Appropriate for tonight indeed. It’s Chris’s birthday today and Will sang ‘Happy Birthday’ in Portuguese, reading out some scribbled notes on his guitar, and São Paulo’s people joined in. Feliz aniversário!

Hello from Rio de Janeiro.
Coldplay are just about to play tonight in the famous sambodromo Apoteose and Oxfam is here, as the band have asked us again if we wanted to come along.
This time it’s me, Giulia, trying to make the most of this opportunity for Oxfam to be heard and to involve as many fans as possible. And I will be reporting for you on the fabulous life of the ‘Oxfam Rep’ on tour.