Brazzil

Growth Is Not Development and Brazil Is Proof of It

This is an absolutely interesting article that,in a way, revindicates what that Swiss economist Ch.c (in his/her crude and rude way) and a lay person like my good and cultured self (in a very polished and subtle way) have been saying for months.Nobody listens to us anymore

The authors make very good points.

By giving "esmola" like "bolsa familiar", we are not contributing to the development not to the growth (of course, our growth will always remain slightly higher than that of Haiti) of our country. Of course, a large majority does not know what the difference is between "Growth" and "development".

Any comments from you two? Ch.c is not allowed to utter a word,until you two have expressed your opinion

And what about the average Brazilian GDP growth rate between 1985 and 2005 ?
50 % or so, below the "continental" average of 6 % ?
Meaning too that some countries had higher average ! Right ?
WHICH ONES ?
Please name them.
LAUGH.......LAUGH......LAUGH !!!!!
THE ANSWER IS.....NONE !!!!!!

If you are not aware, in developed countries, parents receive a "Bolsa Familia" for every child they have.
In my country it starts at around US$ 80.- PER MONTH AND PER CHILD ...and grow to around US$ 200.- PER CHILD when aged
16 or so.
And this is regardless if the parent(s) are poors or multi millionaires !
Ohhh dont worry, in some europeans countries, it is even more.

From my side, I never criticized the Brazilian Bolsa Famila for its existence, but because it gives so little to the most needy.
Yesssssss it represents less than 2 % of the Federal budget......distributed to 20 % of the population !
Yessssss Reals 8 billion out of a budget of around 500 billion.
Or 0,50 Reals per day......for 3 daily decent meals.....as Lula repeats continuously !

If you are not aware, in developed countries, parents receive a "Bolsa Familia" for every child they have.
In my country it starts at around US$ 80.- PER MONTH AND PER CHILD ...and grow to around US$ 200.- PER CHILD when aged
16 or so.
And this is regardless if the parent(s) are poors or multi millionaires !
Ohhh dont worry, in some europeans countries, it is even more.

Well, Ch.c, I was taking a cheap shot at the "Bolsa familiar" of your beloved Lula,like you take cheap shots at all the Brazilians!. I am aware of this program in the developed countries,regardless of the parents being poor or rich.I guess,it is mainly to encourage procreation,as the birth rate in such places is falling down drastically. Those programs have merits and not "vote getting measures",like the one we have here. "Fome Zero is dead", so is the "primeiro emprego". We are living on illusions,unfortunately.

The reason, I wanted you to read this article is not to question micro details,but the Macro one "Growth is not Development and Brazil is Proof of it". This issue is a heated one and debated among my friends and relatives and somehow the authors came out with an article that substantiates my views-at the right time.Since you are a hot shot economist, I wanted some honest comments. I think you gave. The growth rate between 1985 and 2005 is laughable and I am very much aware of it and you dont have to remind me of this fact.

LAUGH.......LAUGH......LAUGH !!!!!

How many times do we have to tell ya not to use Upper Case letters to make your point? You sound like Adolph Hitler

is probably making ch.c kinda deaf.Hence the upper-case letters...

(hmmm, maybe not the best expression to use knowing ch.c is around, it will give him ideas...)
I guess anyone that makes a more than superficial analysis will agree that growth is unstable and susceptible to too many external factors to be the basis of strategic planning.Development, however, is mostly dependent on planning, efficiency and determination...all of which are not part of Bin Lula's (or PT's) vocabulary.

Development, however, is mostly dependent on planning, efficiency and determination...all of which are not part of Bin Lula's (or PT's) vocabulary.

Right Dude, If you ever decide to stand for the elections for the highest office of our land,please do let me know.May be, we could hire ch.c as our Planning Minister,Shelly the minister of Education. Of course,you could hire me as the Headman of Itamaraty

We have to find a suitable candidate as our Minister of Defense and I bet you have some friends of yours who are willing to give us a hand .

(or as Ch.c. might translate: State Dept of Immorality?) as he clearly has been involved in DISCUSSIONs about "the protection of human rights, ecological conservation and the maintenance of peace" and is all for carrying out activities abroad. (www.mre.gov.br/ingles/minister.../index.asp )

Sorry about the CAPs usage and the Ch.c. level transvestiture of Joao's goodly title.

I just finished reading a chapter about "Why culture matters" by Lawrence E. Harrison. He has been to a symposium at The Harvard Academy for International and Area Studies with different academia from humanities, economy, technology and even environmental science area. Lawrence tries to explain why, after reading a economic data from Ghana in the 1990's and South Korea in the 60's, that a development of a country is directly related to culture. I am a little skeptical about it, since there are more to it than just culture. He even goes further and explains that underdevelopment is "culturally driven'. He compares the Protestant countries with Catholic and Confucian countries. Corruption being lower in Protestant societies, Confucian in the middle and the Catholic countries-apart from countries in Europe, where corruption levels are low.

He is a staunch supporter of Alexis de Tocqueville, which I read last week,free associations are good for a society because everyone works towards the same goal, thus channeling energy and avoiding friction or factions in a society. I recognized one participant on the list, Alan Greenspan and other Latin American experts on the field. I particularly like Bernardo Arevalo's observation:" We have the hardware of a democracy but he software of authoritarianism". They identified 5 major reasons for underdevelopment in South America, Africa and some countries in Asia.

1) The link between values and progress
2)The universality of values and Wester cultural imperialism
3)Geography and culture
4)The relationship between culture and institutions
5)Cultural exchange

So do you guys agree or disagree with his hypothesis? Do you agree that this is the case in Brazil?

You can find the book on netlibrary.

You can also search under Samuel P. Huntington...

I just thought about it, it is not theory because there was no consensus in the end of the symposium. But the academics have drawn some guidelines for cultural development in those countries, which brought the fury from the Anthropology side of the question...

Hi João, do not forget about me. I have been gone for a few months, just got back and have a lot to catch up with. I usually begin by reading the past articles and comments, moving forward to the present, but this is a good article to return and start with.
As I have said before, the revolution in brazil needs to start with education. That is the basic key to development, and the "Bolsa Familia" program should be a key part of the education system. It should be given to the students via a school meals program instead of to the parents which only encourage them to have more children so that they can get more. Brazil needs development "Bolsa Familia" not procreation "Bolsa Familia."
And to Ch.C., the percentage of the federal budget that it represents under this system will increase.

Adriana (sp?), since you are taking Anthropology, what do you think about this issue? I am curious, since I took Anthro. 101 in college, nothing like what you are doing, but it gave me a good idea about other cultures and how they try to make sense of the world around them.

"it is not theory because there was no consensus at the end of the symposium. But the academics have drawn some guidelines for cultural development in those countries, which brought the fury from the Anthropology side of the question..."

I think there most definitely are links between culture and 'development', though 'development' would have to be defined. In the South Pacific, particularly the Sandwich Islands (Hawaii) the Protestant missionaries' first task in the 'development' of Hawaii was to descimate Hawaiian culture, dress the naked bodies of the Hawaiians in absurd neck to ankle dress and destroy the elan of the souls of the native Hawaiians, creating in them an ashamed, self hating shadow of the people that they were before the Protestant bequeathers of development came. In my observation of Chinese society, while in China and Thailand, there is definitely a relationship between culture, the values the society places on things, and particular economic and particular moral development. It seems that culture is a function of environment working over time on a fixed population. Though an absolute correlation between culture and 'development' can not be asserted one can state in terms of probability that there is a definite correlation between particular cultures and the consequentional nature of what constitutes development, or the lack of it. It is in some cultures impossible to perceive of changing the status quo and that the highest developmental state is acceptance of the particular status quo. Things are as they should be. The nail that rises above the others will be hammered is an old Japenese aphorism.

The nail that rises above the others will be hammered is an old Japenese aphorism.

In The Netherlands, this is also true-especially in the north.. They use the grass as an aphorism, "a grass standing above all others must be cut..."

One thing that I came across, if I can remember well, was that he considered "development" or 'developed" a country where basic human rights were /_ respected and protected. The UN's basic declaration of human rights was not recognized, as he says, by Anthropologists. They usually see the word "development" as a western influence and word, thus you cannot transfer this idea, for example, to the Mbuti culture. He dismisses colonialism as a reason for underdevelopment and he dismisses racism. I just wonder if he has been to countries in Africa, such as Angola, Ivory coast or Bostwana were the TFR is the lowest in the world. And the Brits and the French drew the lines dividing the territory into countries, they failed to understand the complexity of these cultures-Africa has over 1,000 languages. I agree that there is a cultural aspect to development, the Spanish and Portuguese colonialism had a personalistic relantioship to political and economical exchange. the British, on the other hand, had a complex and impersonal exchange. Obviously, there are a bit of the two in each of these cultures, but I can see the personalistic relationship greatly undermines economic development in Brazil. We still have the caudillos , just a take a look in Alagoas as an example. He also forgets the slavery experience as a root of some, if not all, the cultural problems. The blacks in Brazil and the US are discriminated, but because of our government policies, I believe it is worse for the blacks to live in Brazil than in the US. In the end, I think he failed to see the bigger picture due to inexperience with the Third World political thinking.I truly think it is great that people are taking a look at these issues, but one must be careful not to think that one culture is superior to other.

We have been saying this all along, Brazilian Dude and I are called "anti-Brazilian" for those same reasons.

at....

I wonder if is possible to reach conclusions with certitude. The concept of 'mechanistic predeterminism' postulates a linear model. . .if you do this, then this. . .but the universise is not, of course linear, it is quantum. It is almost naive to conclude that human behavior can be quantified or predicted. It of course can be predicted as a degree of probability. Operant conditioning is the science of such things, but to attempt to extrapolate the causes of a culture by any method is not possible. The universal model of man, that Jung has opened to us may provide a point by which the origins of universal culture and its causes may be developed. But it seems that the conclusion is first reached and then the datum is found to support it. The model of developed man, of the nature of man as postulated by the 1st century Christ, offers a kind of universality of measuring whether a culture is developed or not. Developed in a basic humanism, by which all culture follows. It is interesting to note that in ancient Rome and ancient Greece they were concerned for their development not the development of the nations they enslaved or brutalized. Culture is like the image of a river, it is only the same for the moment that you are looking at it, but it is never the same for any other moment that it is observed. Its banks may exist for a period of time, but the banks change, the flow of water changes, the nature of the water, its turbidity, its salinity, these things are all changing. If you wish to see culture you must observe it from space, like weather culture can be observed and its causes merely surmised, it is not a science, it is more art. Primative man is able to obtain basic necessity, food, shelter, clothing in measurments of days or weeks, but modern man spends a lifetime of labor to acquire these and measures freedom from labor in weeks, in Summer vacations. The development of a society is a measurement of the joy, the hppiness, the bliss that it provides to the members of the society. Culture seems a particular solution, a mechanism by which a particular population has worked this out. When one cultue attempts to enlighten another, to impart its perception of development on another, the result is the abominations of colonialized Africa, South America, Australia, Indonesia, Bali, Sumatra, Newpal, Mongolia. The greatest gift the greatest pestillence is the concept of one world order. A global culture of consumerism, buying and selling, of enslavement to work. This is the model that is postulated as the paradigm of development. But this is not development, it is enslavement. The greatest evil in the world is often the greatest good that people perceive themselves as doing in the name of Development.

"Primative man is able to obtain basic necessity, food, shelter, clothing in measurments of days or weeks, but modern man spends a lifetime of labor to acquire these and measures freedom from labor in weeks, in Summer vacations. The development of a society is a measurement of the joy, the hppiness, the bliss that it provides to the members of the society. Culture seems a particular solution, a mechanism by which a particular population has worked this out. When one cultue attempts to enlighten another, to impart its perception of development on another, the result is the abominations of colonialized Africa, South America, Australia, Indonesia, Bali, Sumatra, Newpal, Mongolia. The greatest gift the greatest pestillence is the concept of one world order. A global culture of consumerism, buying and selling, of enslavement to work. This is the model that is postulated as the paradigm of development. But this is not development, it is enslavement. The greatest evil in the world is often the greatest good that people perceive themselves as doing in the name of Development."

I couldn't agree more with you. I read for this Anthropology class, The forest people, by Collin Turnbull (SP?) Have you read it? It is a ethnography work on the MButi people, and it brings some of the issues that you have mentioned. They work 20 hours a week, have enough food for everyone and have plenty of time for fun....and the children respect the elders and other adults-everyone is ma and pa! I guess we could do with some of that respect in our society...

Hi João, do not forget about me. I have been gone for a few months, just got back and have a lot to catch up with. I usually begin by reading the past articles and comments, moving forward to the present, but this is a good article to return and start with.

I have not forgotten you. Welcome back. Right decision to read this article and comment to "marcar" your presence.

As I have said before, the revolution in brazil needs to start with education.

Gee, you sound like Cris Buarque! I never contested about it nor the fact that I was taking cheap shots at "Bolsa Familia". The thing is that we in PR/SC/RS do give importance to education and the quality is very good. Instead of giving "Bolsa" to the families, the government (Federal,State and Municipal) should increase the salaries of the teachers. I resent this program being used as a political tool to win the votes in other parts of the country,especially in the states of BA,AL,MA,etc; I have been to Nordeste and loved the people,though resented the "Political Entrepreneurs", though they think that they are the ones who command the whole country.

As for this topic under discussion "Growth is not Development", I agree that the Education is ONE of the component factors for development.But not the UNIQUE factor.A country is like a Mega Corporation. It has to have a long term "Growth Strategy". An undergrad student of a B-school knows what it means. If not, all he has to do is to read some back issues of HBR!

I think that the authors of this article are questioning the "Marketing Myopia" of the LAT AM countries, and that was the reason, I got interested in their writing.There again, I have to confess that I am not the "Dono da Verdade".

Still, I would like to make a 64 Dollar question: If we just educate the people and not think about providing them with JOBS after they graduate out of the high school,universities,etc;, have we accomplished "Growth". We would be following the "Growth Strategy" of Fidel Castro! Think about what I said. The aspirations of the human beings is much better defined by Maslow than Fidel! Probably Fidel read Maslow,but learnt NOTHING.

Guys and Gals, I would love if my pal Cristovam Buarque enters into this forum!! (May be Shelly can send an e-mail to him directly)

We have been saying this all along, Brazilian Dude and I are called "anti-Brazilian" for those same reasons.

I dont recall you two being called "anti-Brazilian" by anybody. Não inventa. You playing the role of "Coitadinha" ?

btw, did you see the pic of the parade? Dona.Marisa, wearing a nice hat, looks like the Queen of your Hubby . You can access estadão and appreciate this pageant show.

FYI

http://www.estadao.com.br/

QUE CAFONA!!! PUTZ, she looks like Queen Mum

I dont recall you two being called "anti-Brazilian" by anybody. Não inventa. You playing the role of "Coitadinha" ?

Yes, I have indirectly...unfortunately, I don't have the time to look on past issues.

"Gee, you sound like Cris Buarque! I never contested about it nor the fact that I was taking cheap shots at "Bolsa Familia".

Joao, I was not critizing you. I, unlike Ch. c., pay attention to what you are writing without having a preconceived agenda. As you know, I prefer to debate. I was just restating what I had said in a previous blog. I hate the "Bolsa Familia" for the same reason that you do plus the fact that it keep people poor by encouraging them to have more children in order to get more money. That is why I believe it should be taken out of the hands of the parents.

"Still, I would like to make a 64 Dollar question: If we just educate the people and not think about providing them with JOBS after they graduate out of the high school,universities,etc;, have we accomplished "Growth". We would be following the "Growth Strategy" of Fidel Castro! Think about what I said."

Actually I did write about providing jobs for them in prior blog. To summarize what I wrote, for Brazil's enonomy to develop from a raw materials exporter to a finished goods exporter, Brazil needs to have an educated work force. Those are the jobs Joao. Right now they are being exported, and they not limited to just the manufacturing jobs but all the small and large enterprises which would support them. All those jobs are being lost.

Now about Castro, Cuba"s "Growth Strategy" is not only determined by Castro. Think about this, why is the United States trading with China who fought against them on the Korean Peninsula and Vietnam whom they fought against on the Indochinese Peninsula, but not with Cuba with whom to the best of my knowledge they have not lost one soldier's life under Castro"s rule? Do you think the United States would like Castro to succeed economically despite what you or I may think of Castro? Where are China and Vietnam geographically in relation to Cuba and the United States? Why does the United States have an embargo on Cuba? Ask the United States farmers if the embargo is benificial to them.

Drop the import tax burden on the little guys / make the rules, procedural hurdles, timelines very low or non-existent for start ups and just see how many and how fast sustainable small enterprises would bloom and create an upward surge in the consumption of the vastly unused / under used labor pool that Brazil has available even with it's current education profile and culturally derived (opportunity droughted) under acheivements in the greater populace. With that, the drive, evolution and expansion of education and over all development will hoist itself far beyond what Bolsa Familia can ever acheive.

"Why Is Education Failing in Brazil? For Lack of Trying."
Written by Cristovam Buarque

Joao, I just finish reading the article for the title above and realized why you said I sound like Cris Buarque. However, fortunately for me I grew up in a country where the government took a revolutionary approach to education. Today the economic benefits of that policy is paying off led by the educated technocrats, lawyers, doctors, teachers, engineers etc, and the revolution still continues today even though my generation is now in government. When I was growing up if a police officer caught you on the streets during school hours your parents would have to answer why. That is how strict the policy of education was enforced.
By the way, most of the people who started the revolution did not have a high school education, but they knew what the value of an education would bring to the people they led. I wish they were alive today to see the advancement of their vision. I truely believe that Brazil could achieve the same since you have more resources than we had. All we had was a sugar industry which was finally closed in 2005 because it had become unprofitable. Think about what would have happen to all the ex-workers if they were uneducated.

Hi Shelly,
I'm sorry it took too long to respond your post. I'm a little busy with school and work.

I took some classes before but I wasn't sure of what I wanted ( as parents and friends were telling me, "what are you gonna do with Anthropology?" unfortunatly, I wasn't strong enough at that time to hold my ground.) And, since I have been working with children, I decided to get my major in Child development and become a teacher. But now, I am taking this Anthro class "Endangered Cultures" which is part of my minor major in "Human Rights in a global Perspective", and guess what? I am totally in love with Anthro again. It seems that this time is stronger, I feel like I'm in a verge of ......

Now to make matters worse, I watched a movie called "The nanny Diary" ( three times, I'm obessed with it.) It's a story of a girl that wanted to become an Anthropologist, but her mom told her, "What are you going to do with Anthropology?" and she gave up, and took a nanny job in the NY Upper East Side ( the richest part of NY.) To her surprise she ended up doing Anthropological field work.

The critics did not like it. I loved it, for personal reasons; as I have some similarities with her character. If you have the chance, watch it. It's not my favorite type of movie but it is worth seeing it.

Excused me my little story. Now trying to respond your question ( I'm not an expert yet.)

"it is not theory because there was no consensus at the end of the symposium. But the academics have drawn some guidelines for cultural development in those countries, which brought the fury from the Anthropology side of the question..."

Well, I think AES made a pretty good analysis on the one. I agree with him. I'm also want to add that what referential are we using to determine which culture is developed and which is not?
I have a perception that the cultures that don't experience "Aculturation" and keep themselves Isolated are the exactly cultures that are in danger or they are doing well due to their isolation. This is a question I have I hope I'll get some answers in this class. And I don't think it has to do only with "Adaptation." Because there are cultures that are still "surviving" and others that are "coming back" (we're gonna cover them in this course.)

Shelly, a term that we learned this week, (and I think could be an excelent way of analysing culture development, and it's survival) is called "Ecosis."
"Ecosis" of a culture is how a particular society interacts with the environment and "transforms" it.
The BRIC Nations (Brazil, India, and China) are transforming their environment in the name of the "development". And we need to be aware of where this environmental "transformation" is gonna take us.

Shelly, as you can see in my post, I'm also have lots of questions.

Joao, I was not critizing you. I, unlike Ch. c., pay attention to what you are writing without having a preconceived agenda. As you know, I prefer to debate. I was just restating what I had said in a previous blog. I hate the "Bolsa Familia" for the same reason that you do plus the fact that it keep people poor by encouraging them to have more children in order to get more money. That is why I believe it should be taken out of the hands of the parents.

No, I did not mean your comments as criticism! After reading both your posts, I can see that we agree on the issue of education being an important ingredient in the development of a country. In fact, when I said that you sounded like Cris Buarque, I was indirectly complimenting you for stressing that fact. However, CB is in a better postion than I am to do something about it. Remember he is an economist also and could touch on many other factors that are needed to develop a country.

Actually I did write about providing jobs for them in prior blog. To summarize what I wrote, for Brazil's enonomy to develop from a raw materials exporter to a finished goods exporter, Brazil needs to have an educated work force. Those are the jobs Joao. Right now they are being exported, and they not limited to just the manufacturing jobs but all the small and large enterprises which would support them. All those jobs are being lost.

That is what precisely I have been saying in my posts. I dont know how much you know about our country. Our economy grew at the rate of more than 10% annually during the 60´s and 70´s .We did have good educational system (at least in the South) and did contribute to produzing fine doctors,engineers, Lawyers, technicians,etc; They in turn built an Industrial base. As Ch.c, said correctly, between 1985 and 2005 the growth rate was 50%. That is during 20 YEARS. That represents an average ANNUAL growth rate of 1.22%! It means the educated professionals (as well as un skilled ) labor were un employed or under employed or decided to emigrate legally or illegally to other countries. The economic policy of the past and the current governments (regardless of the parties) is stressing more on the export of raw material and manufacturing jobs to China. I dont think the Chines are willing to hire Brazilian labor in their industries!

However, fortunately for me I grew up in a country where the government took a revolutionary approach to education. Today the economic benefits of that policy is paying off led by the educated technocrats, lawyers, doctors, teachers, engineers etc, and the revolution still continues today even though my generation is now in government. When I was growing up if a police officer caught you on the streets during school hours your parents would have to answer why. That is how strict the policy of education was enforced.

This is the right approach for developing a nation. The ones in the country were not educated,but had a FUTURE VISION for the next generations.I liked the idea of Police officers here would do the same, when the youngsters are loitring around the streets instead of being at the school and hold the parents responsible! I dont mind giving "Bolsa Familia", but the parents have to be held responsible for sending the kids to school! Also increase the pay of the teachers.

I truely believe that Brazil could achieve the same since you have more resources than we had. All we had was a sugar industry which was finally closed in 2005 because it had become unprofitable. Think about what would have happen to all the ex-workers if they were uneducated.

I totally agree with you. We have resources in abundance,but our politicians dont have FUTURE VISION and are squandering away the resources and killing the Middle class,small and medium businesses.

Please do share with us how your country managed to provide jobs for all their educated mass, after the Sugar Mill was closed in 2005. If you do not want to name your country, please do tell us at least what sectors of economy, the jobs were created. As usual, I am curious.

Drop the import tax burden on the little guys / make the rules, procedural hurdles, timelines very low or non-existent for start ups and just see how many and how fast sustainable small enterprises would bloom and create an upward surge in the consumption of the vastly unused / under used labor pool that Brazil has available even with it's current education profile and culturally derived (opportunity droughted) under acheivements in the greater populace. With that, the drive, evolution and expansion of education and over all development will hoist itself far beyond what Bolsa Familia can ever acheive.

Good points.Drop the 50% fine on the FGTS, an employer has to pay when firing an employee. That is to start with. Reform labor laws. Restructure the labor court.

I know quite a bit about Brazil however not everything that is why I rely on this site and others plus people like yourself for more information. My affair with Brazil began when I was about 8 years old in history and geography classes. After I graduated from those classes, I retreated to the public library and read every book or magazine that had information on Brazil. When those resources were exhaused I wrote to the Brazilian Embassy in Washington who sent me even more information. By the time I graduated from high school at 18 years old, I already knew the country that I would visit first and accomplished that goal 2 years later in 1981.
My visit to Brazil was despite the concerns my mom had because I did not speak portuguese and at the time she though that I did not know anyone in Brazil. About a year and a half prior to my visit, I met a brazilian girl who was visiting my country. She reaffirmed my desire to visit Brazil. I did not catch up with her until well after I was in Brazil because she was busy with the English rock group The Police concerts that were taking place in Rio at that time---I met them after. She however gave me a list of things to occupy my time which I added to the list that I had. I did the traditional tourist things with the exception of Sugar Loaf (still have not done it), before venturing off to non tourist things like visiting a favela which she forbade me not to do and partying in a real Brazilian carnaval ball---not the ones for the tourist. For someone who do not speak portuguese. the chances I took back then and on other visits after, I would not dare take today. When we finally caught up with each other I was tired and ready to leave Rio for Sao Paulo where she lived. I had a good visit there also minus a lot of the partying. For my first physical introduction to Brazil, it was a wonderful 25 days.

I have no problem naming the country since I am proud of what has been achieved despite limited resources. There is a lot more work to be accomplished thus "a luta continua." The following is the good, the bad and the ugly, an excerpt from the U.S. Department of State website.
FEDERATION of ST. KITTS AND NEVIS
Population (2006): 42,696 (31,515 on St. Kitts and 11,181 on Nevis).
Education (2005): Adult literacy--97.8%.
Health (2006): Infant mortality rate--18/1,000. Life expectancy--men 66 years; women 73 years.
Unemployment (2006): 5.1%
GDP (2005): $453.0 million.
GDP growth rate (2006): 4.6%.
Per capita GDP (2005): $8,210.
Inflation (2005): 3.6%.
Natural resources: Negligible.
Agriculture: Sugarcane, rice, yams, bananas, fish, cotton, peanuts, vegetables.
Industry: Financial and business services, tourism, construction, clothing, footwear, beverages, and tobacco.
Trade (2005): Exports--$34 million (merchandise) and $139 million (commercial services). Major markets--United States (91.9%), EU (3.0%), Trinidad and Tobago (2%), Netherlands Antilles (0.8%), St. Vincent and the Grenadines (0.3%). Imports--$210 million (merchandise) and $87 million (commercial services). Major suppliers--United States (57.9%), Trinidad and Tobago (14.1%), European Union (9.3%), Japan (3.8%), and Barbados (2.8%).
Official exchange rate: EC$2.70 = U.S. $1.

ECONOMY
"St. Kitts and Nevis was the last sugar monoculture in the Eastern Caribbean until the government decided to close the sugar industry in 2005, after decades of losses at the state-run sugar company. To compensate for the loss of the sugar industry, the Government of St. Kitts and Nevis has embarked on a program to diversify the agricultural sector and stimulate the development of other sectors of the economy."
"The economy of St. Kitts and Nevis experienced strong growth for most of the 1990s, but hurricanes in 1998 and 1999 and the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks hurt the tourism-dependent economy. Economic growth picked up in 2004, with a real GDP growth rate of 6.4%, followed by 4.1% growth in 2005. Tourism has shown the greatest growth and is now a major foreign exchange earner for St. Kitts and Nevis, as evidenced by an 83% increase in foreign direct investment in a range of tourism-related projects. Significant new investment included a 648-room Marriott hotel and convention center that opened in December 2002, as well as other resort projects. In 2006, the economy of St. Kitts and Nevis posted growth of 4.6%, mostly as a result of diversification into tourism and construction related to the Cricket World Cup. The government instituted a program of investment incentives for businesses considering the possibility of locating in St. Kitts or Nevis, encouraging domestic and foreign private investment. Government policies provide liberal tax holidays, duty-free import of equipment and materials, and subsidies for training provided to local personnel."
"However, the debt of public enterprises has increased, and total public debt is projected to reach 180% in the coming year. Consumer prices have risen marginally over the past few years. The rate of inflation, as measured by the change in the CPI, rose on average by 3.6% in 2005, compared with 2.3% in 2004 and 2.2% in 2003."

A lot of the debt is from the sugar industry including the cost of closing it down. In my opinion the government took to long to close the industry; however, their timing was driven by concern for the workers whom they have since transitioned into other sectors of the economy as was mentioned above plus self employment backed by govrenment loans and business management training.

Pardon my ignorance of your country and thanks for enlightening me about it. Also forgive me for thinking that you were a Cuban!

I loved the narration of your visit to Brazil in 1981 and the wonderful 25 days you spent here. At that time, Rio was a very safe place to visit and enjoy.A pity you missed the Sugar Loaf. I think it was due to the traditional rivalry (?) between the Cariocas and Paulistanos that made your Paulistana girl friend to put the fear of God in your mind about Rio!. So what happened to your Paulistana girl friend? Did the romance last? We will be interested in knowing!!

While you are pondering whether or not to reveal further secrets about your first adventure into Brazil, I will be reading more about your country.Will get back to you. Thanks for answering my question about your country. Time for me to research further.

"Pardon my ignorance of your country and thanks for enlightening me about it"

Not ignorance João, lack of knowledge. Ignorance would be for someone who refuses to believe facts that are presented even though he or she cannot refute them.

"Also forgive me for thinking that you were a Cuban!"

Nothing to forgive, it is easy to understand why you would think that I was Cuban. My beliefs are influenced by the political system under which I grew up and which is still practiced. The system is in a constant state of flux and is neither pure capitalism or socialism. It is a blend of both with the ability for critical thinking and common sense at its center---no room for dogma and static. At the heart of all this is, a true belief in and the pratice of, democracy and the rule of law. My hope for the future is that the youths of today will continue down this path, but the system and the country is being challenged not because of lack of education but intelligence on their part.

"So what happened to your Paulistana girl friend? Did the romance last? "

Actually, we never had a romance, and we are still friends. We could have had a romance, but I was too enveloped in Brazil and the graciousness of the people. A few years after we met she be came famous in Brazil.
In the present I have been married 6 years to a Brazilian whom I have known for 10 years. We live in the state of Rio De Janeiro, two and a half hours outside of the city.

Thank you for the info. Your romance with Brazil seems to continue. You have a famous friend and a nice wife. I thought you were still in St.Kitts and Nevis,but was surprised to know that you are right in Brazil, a few hours drive from Rio. In spite of it, you have never been to Sugar Loaf Mountain. I am surprised again!

BTW, what is the route from Rio to St.Kitts. I dont think that they have direct flights.Is it expensive to travel to your country? I wouldnt mind taking a few days off to a Carribean country (never been there).

Would appreciate if you could direct me to some web sites.

Also thanks for clarifying the difference between "Ignorance" and "Lack of Knowledge".Ignorance is a Bliss and the government here wants to keep the large majority in a bliss

Actually at the moment I am in neither of those two places. I am in Miami. Hopefully next week I will be in Brazil. A few moments ago I was checking the cost of flights online and was shock to see that they have risen by at least $200.00 to $400.00 since the last time I was in Brazil. The demise of varig has led to less competition. This means that the cost of travel to St. Kitts is almost prohibitive. The most direct way to travel to St. Kitts from Rio is via Miami with American Airlines. I just priced it at www.aa.com and it is $1367.20. I am defnately going to miss Varig. After falling for many years, these prices are back to the level they were when I made my first trip to Brazil.
In a year and a half, more or less, my wife and I will be moving to Florida.

Joao, how it it possible to have "Good points" (notice ur plural) when it was only two stinking poorly structured sentences (again plural) with about seventeen different possibilties of what one might make of the content (or preferrably the Continent of Brazil!! HA).

"In a year and a half, more or less, my wife and I will be moving to Florida" - between the best available discount fare from other than a couple cities (none of which are close to me), the turbulence in the US market and the decline in the exchange rate (in addition to the obstinance or lethargy of the government of Brazil to get with it on the small business front) - so too are I and my spouse.

Tanks for the stroking - I admit I needed it

I just wanted to cheer you up.You taking an attitude towards me? .

I think that Forrest must have visited St.Kitts. Hope he is in this blog to give his Opinion,especially about the Air Fare between Rio and St.Kitts.May be he will give us a better deal ,if you are willing to work as his deck hand

I booked my flight from Miami to Rio today. It cost me $822.00, about $225 more than I was paying before the demise of Varig. I do not think I have paid this much in over 10 years. By the way, I got this fare thru a discount travel consolidator, Costamar and a very resource full Brazilian travel agent. However, to get this fare I am flying into Brazil via Belem instead of Rio or Sao Paulo. Check out www.costamar.com

I booked my flight from Miami to Rio today. It cost me $822.00, about $225 more than I was paying before the demise of Varig.

Round trip or one way?

You are right .When Varig and Transbrasil were operating, the fares used to be cheaper for the trips to U.S., from here.Transbrasil was a good Airline too.

"Round trip or one way? "

Round trip. I have to return here for work. I do not stay here, but instead leave from here to go to work. That is why I disappear every two and a half months or so.
I had the pleasure of flying on Transbrasil once before they went out of business and I enjoyed the flight. I took my parents and one of my sisters to Brazil then. Today I would probably have to rob a bank inorder to pay for the fares.