Quote: Brasil has one of the weirdest economies in the world and you can't benchmark them against anyone else. We (my company) have a large presence there.....and cost benchmarking is seen as an exercise in futility.
Americans need to suck it up and get used to $5/gallon gas. Europeans have dealt with it forever.
Yes, During the military regime..inflation was 20-40% monthly. Once democracy took over, and new president had a tightening of prices, imports etc. They started taking off. They do get hurt directly by our economy, since most of the outside investment is stateside. But they are a major hub for all the SA countries. 5 years ago the dollar was 1 to 3 reais, today it roaming around 1.5. I had about 300 reais in my drawer and expected it to be worth less today, I actually made out and basically doubled my money by having it my drawer. I work for a large corporation (90000 worldwide) that literally has no presence in Brazil. They have invested heavily in Europe, and several SA countries, but not Brazil. My goal is to get them to invest in Brazil.
Brazil's constitution is based on ours, yet they mimic more an European flavor of economy. They are a federal republic, the elite are the top 5% with a major gap in the middle class. The lower class are fully supported by the goverment AKA Canadian socialism.
