Brazzil

WELL EXPLAINED AND DETAILED IN ITS TRUTH !!!
The same could be said for the Brazilian economy. Everything published shows exports up X %, production up Y %, spending up Z %.! the increases of XYZ up a lot...of course !
Annoucements made with pride of how good the government policies have been.

But at the end the bottom line is that Brazil has the lowest growth rate of ALL developing nations.

Where is the Brazilian trick and where are the lies and the cheating ?

TheEND results never equals the simple PUBLISHED equations... !!!!!

Hmmmm....strange !

Ch.C

I agree with you that it is an excellent article. I wonder if you know that if Chris Buarque was a canditate for the Presidential elections. He was very good in the debates too.But the Brazilians opted not to listen to him.

and the most of them do not know what Ph.D is.

The author, really hit the nail on the head, but this is almost like the ATM story, anyone familiar with Brazil and her culture knows exactly what he is saying. Teachers are paid on par with police and other civil servants, but while they don't recieve much of a salary, the enjoy a very good retirement, they are for the most pary concerend with that and not education.

On the other hand, some of the private schools offer a first class education, parents that can afford it send their young kids to the French School, or American School, or German School, preparing them for a college education abroad. The most expensive Brazilian private schools are excellent as well. The middle class can also opt for private schools, but these are diploma mills, as long as the parents pay tuition, they kids will graduate...even if they spend schoold days on the beach. The public schools are pathetic, teaching Brazils children only the basics and as the article says, most drop out. Again, Brazil proves that only the elite have opportunites...5 years of Lula, with another 4 to go and no difference will be made, Brazil will remain barley liiterate, it's a shame, as Brazilians in general maintian a high level of commone sense, and desire to succeed.

- yess of course I know he was a presidential candidate.
- As to the salaries of the teachers, you are not really correct, based on a previous article of a year or so ago of Buarque.
- This article explained in fact that teachers salaries were paid by the states and not the federal government. And the reality is that in most states, the poorest by definition, teachers salaries are very very low. But curiously NOT in Brasilia, the capital, where teachers salaries are very high and paid by the Federal Government !
- And of course the teachers salaries in rich states are very high...because afterall the teachers are state workers and all civil servants are well paid in rich states.....in Brazil !
- This demonstrates that contrary to what Lula is saying, there is no real national education.


As to GTY statement that Brazilians in general maintain a high level of common sense, sorry but I totally disagree. Just read the comments of most forum members in this site !

But do they have a desire to succeed ? Ohhhh yessss...at whatever cost ! Those with a job will use red tape one way or another but usually in many ways, and those without job will steal, rob and even kill ! Just like politicians....having one of the highest official salaries (even higher than in most developed countries) but that being not enough...they ALL double or triple their salaries...through illegal BUT ACCEPTED corruptions practices.

Let me just remind you that in the vote buying scandals, those proven guilty by the investigators, have mostly been absolved....in secrets votes....by their peers as much corrupted as those they absolved !!!!!!

So disgusting that many investigators....resigned !

Afterall why so much time and money spent for....NOTHING.....knowing that all will end up anyway in large PIZZAS....as the
Brazilians say !!!!!


In the USA it is called the GAAP.....Generally Accepted Accounting Practices
In Brazil it is called the GACP....Generally Accepted Corruption Practices.

Smile

Going back to Brazil and brazilians education here are 2 simple comparisons :
- in Brazil 10,5 % of students have a university degree. But 86,5 % in South Korea...another developing country !
- South Korea, spends one-third of what it spends on education on pensions. In Brazil, the situation is the opposite, with pensions representing two and a half times the amount spent on education.

And also on the Government spendings :
- The biggest problem is the structural deficit of the pension system which affects everything else. Over the last 18 years Brazil has tripled pension costs as a proportion of GDP - from 4% in 1987 to 12% in 2005, including pensions from the state INSS scheme and the public employees’ scheme. There is no parallel anywhere else in the world. At the same time, the 1988 Constitution increased the links between the revenues and costs and the transfer of resources to the states and municipalities. The result is that when you add the interest rates account, these obligatory costs represent 33% of GDP. That is why today Brazil has a tax burden of 37% of GDP and spends 40% of GDP in the public sector. As our per capita income rules out collecting amounts of this size in any rational way, there has been a considerable deterioration in the tax system since 1988, leading to inefficiency, tax dodging and corruption.

For your information the last 3 comments are from Mailson da Nobrega, former Finance Minister !!!!
By the way, since 2005 the overall tax burden went up to nearly 39 % from 37 % in 2005 !
Quite laughable that Lula is promising year after year...but always for the following years....curiously.....a 5 % economic growth rate.
Quite laughable too that the majority of citizens continue to swallow year after year the Lula promises !

Looks like that everyone knows why Brazil is not growing as fast as all other developing nations do, but NOT Lula the liar, the cheater, the bad magician cheating and betraying everyone !!!!

OF COURSE HE KNOWS TODAY THAT BRAZIL WILL NOT GROW 5 % , unless there is a lucky year such as 2004, after 3 miserable year of growth.

Lucky Accidents can happen to everyone !


Laugh laugh laugh

Good article, but I have one correction to make. Brazilians are not accustomed to mediocrity in all areas except sport, in "economy; in society; in culture," as Buarque says. In culture at least, Brazilians excel: Brazilian music, second to none.

Lots of undeducated people voting means that not the best politicians get elected, just those who come up with the easy slogans...Increasing the quantity of educated people and the quality of eductaion is the key to alleviate Brazilian problems, not death penaly and jails...but uneducated people want quick solutions, compelxity is not understood by the masses. Fighting poverty is the key to fighting corruptiona and crime, there'll always be corruption and crime as long as there's povery and it's hard to make ends meet. Wake up Brazilian oligarhcy befeore it'll be you who get shot tomorrow at the traffic light of your rich neighbourhood

It is easy to develop a critique while in government political opposition, Mr Buarque could build a different Educational Master Program when he was in charge of the Brazilian Education Ministry and demonstrated he is an expert to write good articles but not a powerful public executive to implement his 'great ideas'. Hr Buarque is just a dreamer with excelent communication skills. He is not a doer! Mr Buarque's ideas are very marketable and have good positioning for HIM not for Brazil!