In six months time the world’s biggest sporting event will get underway in Rio de Janeiro. Here, Jules Boykoff, author of “Power Games: A Political History of the Olympics” takes a look at the winners and losers in the race for financial, rather than Olympic, gold.
Arquivo - Tag: Economy
Tristes Tropiques – Brazil’s gloomy 2015 in review
The economy tanked, President Dilma Rousseff faced toxic approval ratings and the threat of impeachment, the shoddy, megalomaniacal caperings of the likes of Eduardo Cunha, the Speaker of the country’s Lower House, dragged an already grubby political landscape further into the mire, and the internet reflected back a society that often seemed riven by social(…)
Rio Olympic spending turns from gold to bronze
As the Rio Olympics draw closer, organizers are cutting costs – but it may have more to do with Brazil’s crumbling economy than IOC initiatives or financial good governance. Jules Boykoff, author of “Power Games: A Political History of the Olympics” explains. By Jules Boykoff Rio de Janeiro Back in 2009, when the International Olympic Committee awarded(…)
Brazil’s political crisis explained
While much has been made of Brazil’s economic downturn, a toxic political climate is equally responsible for the current woes of President Dilma Rousseff and her government. Mauricio Savarese looks at the complex backdrop to the crisis. By Mauricio Savarese São Paulo There is no easy explanation as to why, just under a year after being reelected by a narrow margin,(…)
As politicians fight in Brasília, reality bites in the periferia
Once a symbol of growth and rising confidence, the sprawling suburbs outside Brazil’s urban centers are feeling the pinch as the economy nosedives. And there are few places in the country where it is so obvious how out of touch the bickering politicians in Brasilia are with the realities of daily life. By James Young Belo Horizonte(…)
Brazil’s economy and election, summarized quickly
I’ve left the bitterness of São Paulo on a brief vacation outside of Brazil, but I wanted to share insights into the country’s current situation from two excellent commentators that generally hold the “pro-market” viewpoint. The first is from Tony Volpon of Nomura Securities: Structurally, the end of the commodity boom can now be dated(…)
Brazil’s five election surprises
Sunday was full of surprises, and most of them dispiriting for the groups that thought they’d made gains during last year’s protests. Here’s the five biggest. By Mauricio Savarese 1 – Marina Silva out of the run-off From presidential front-runner to the falling star of Brazil’s politics. The former environment minister was a bad player from(…)
The worst thing about Brazil
Brazil’s brutal inequality is so ubiquitous that those who live here simply stop noticing it. An unexpected message from abroad serves as a reminder of the topic that is so rarely discussed here, in society, the media, or the current election. I’ve been living in Brazil for over four years now, which has been incredible in almost(…)
Cup weeks 3 and 4 – actually about football
The Cup went well enough that we finally got to focus on the soccer for a few weeks. Now, it’s back to the real problems. Vincent Bevins Rio de Janeiro Since early May, and really, since June 2013, we’ve seen the meaning of the World Cup shift radically, many times. Before it all started, the(…)
Inflation and the Petrobras problem
The world expected Brazil’s state oil industry to oversee a boom driven by offshore reserves. But Petrobras is stuck between a rock and a hard place, as the government has needed to use the company to combat the eternal threat of inflation, grinding relations with the investors the industry needs. By Dom Phillips Graça Foster,(…)
