Brazilian President Makes Fun of Wall Street's Super Brains

[bemildred]

Source: Brazzil

The President of Brazil, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva said on Thursday, September 18, that he has watched with "sadness" the collapse of Wall Street firms that made economic policy recommendations in emerging markets "as if they were the super intelligent and we were the poor souls."

"Important banks, very important banks, that spent their lives giving advice about Brazil and what we should or shouldn't do are now broke," news agency EFE quoted Lula da Silva as saying in a speech in southern Brazil.

Lula criticized Wall Street firms for treating financial markets like a "casino" and for relying on "speculation" to make money. He said the Brazilian economy is well-equipped to weather the global crisis and would suffer "very little" even if the US sinks into a deep recession.

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"The First World, to which we had been repeatedly told we must reach, is crumbling like a bubble", Kirchner added. "In the midst of the swelling sea" Argentina remains strong. "It's time many of those institutions instead of telling us what to do, should look around and do something for themselves".

Read more: http://www.brazzilmag.com/content/view/9933/

[Starbucks Anarchist]

1. Looks like we'll have to change the name to "Freedom Wax."

[bemildred]

3. "Freedom nuts". nt

[Javaman]

18. "In Brazil, we just call them nuts..." lol nt

[YDogg]

11. I LOLd.

[Xipe Totec]

2. There goes another Brazzilion n/t

[madinmaryland]

4. How much is that?

[HereSince1628]

5. Rhetoric to reassure the masses...it's as phony as McCain's

Brazil doesn't consume all it produces. Its industries with surplus will slow down, jobs will be idled, Brazil will feel it.

It's fine to be loving watching Wall St in pain, everyone love's to laugh when the guy on the high-horse falls. But Lula de Silva has seen Brazil in economic turmoil. If he lives long enough he will again. People are people and the pain caused by the mistakes and bad behavior of people acting like people not only goes around, it comes around.

My advice to Brazilians is enjoy it while it lasts.

[izzybeans]

8. The point is the arrogance with which economic development policies have been carried out.

These people have been treated like royalty and with undue deference. They were allowed to answer questions and to set policies they had no business handling, obviously.



Of course its meant for the masses, doesn't change the fact of the arrogance, mismanagement,and utter stupidity upon which they built their house of cards.

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

9. For exactly that reason, the Brazilian government has been investing in the internal market.

Also known as "helping the poor."

Poverty is slowly but steadily diminishing here. Jobs are being created. Our right-wingers, of course, hate it.

Of course Brazil, as any country, feels the effects of crises. But I daresay it gets by better than most. Our economy is not the house of cards it was 15 years ago.

Oh, and by the way, snarky tirades by the President have zero influence on how well we'll do.

[sasquatch]

14. I love your sig line

[knixphan]

66. Bravo!!

[ooglymoogly]

20. There is a foundation for his argument or derision.

Most cars in Brazil run on Bio-fuel (sugar cane) and is dirt cheap. They along with Venezuela are not beholden to any country for energy, the life's blood of any economy. Both have oodles of oil which they are able to export to a world starving for it and are willing to sell their shirts for it, while using very little of it for themselves. They have seen the future and are 5-10 years ahead of the rest of the world lazily drunk with a diminishing supply of oil. There is some one to blame for this and it is big oil and their propaganda machine which they own lock stock and barrel...pun intended,

[HereSince1628]

24. Certainly, But, what goes around WILL come around.

Brazil is not so long removed from serious economic problems, and it is not immune from mistakes, mischevious or even criminal behavior of those who want to get rich.

The one true phrase found by the ancient wise men? "This too shall pass."

[amdezurik]

43. you mean Dole is going back there?

If you read history most of the problems you describe were from US companies playing silly buggers in Central and South America...

[HereSince1628]

45. No. I mean that human nature is human nature.

People make mistakes, people think of themselves and push for regulations and law that serve their personal greedy wants. Some people do criminal things on purpose.

In this respect the population of Brazil is no different than any other nation on Earth. That being the case, it is only a matter of time until similar, not necessarily identical, bad sort of things happening to Brazil.

And yes, thank-you, I do know all about Dole, and the very real origin of the phrase Banana Republic. I also know that major industries in Brazil like the steel producers have seen the value of their stocks tumble as worldwide demand for their products slows. Brazil is a big player in the world economy when the world slumps so will Brazil.

The President of Brazil gave his nation a dose of Dr. Feelgood, (much like McCain tried to do last Monday with his stupid "the fundamentals are sound" speech). That included a smug satisfaction of being able to rub it in to noses of the denizens of the despised norte.

Fine.

I say let Brazilians enjoy it while they can.

What goes around will come around.

[ooglymoogly]

53. Better him than me, Better him than me.

[entanglement]

34. Latin America has long chafed at the know-it-all arrogance of Western financial elites

So I suspect this isn't just about Wall Street.

[DCKit]

36. No way. He's taking shots at the World Bank, USAID, WTO, IMF, et. al.

They're all tied up in incestuous relationships of influence, greed, graft, blackmail, bribery and the whole NeoCon agenda. They neither want or need the kind of advice and structure the U.S. government or our economic advisers would wish them to heed and implement. The attempt to privatize the water, transportation and energy sectors as well as the resources of Bolivia as a condition of World Bank and IMF loans was a real wake-up call for the region and now they've got leaders who aren't going to play along.

South America has wised up to the NeoCon Agenda, and they've booted them out - except for Colombia, the lone hold-out and our last "friend" in the region. With the other leaders standing together, there is little hope for the NeoCons of regaining their foothold any time soon without taking blatant and extraordinary measures.

There are others far more knowledgeable about the exact actions and timeline of our colonial experiment in S.A., but I'm sticking to what I know.

[ZombieHorde]

6. How many presidents are there in a brazilian?

[jberryhill]

7. I heard they had Brazillians down there /nt

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

10. MEMO TO ALL: citing the "brazillion joke" makes you look like a moron. That will be all. -nt

[Ikonoklast]

12. How many morons make a brazillion?

Damn this foreign exchange rate stuff.

Now I'm really confused.

[many a good man]

13. Collapse of the "Washington Consensus"?

Cannibal capitalism strikes again!

[bemildred]

23. Yeah, a lot of credibiliy gone down the drain, and there was not a lot left before this debacle. nt

[Odin2005]

27. There is going to be a lot of gnashing of teeth among the Investor Class

There are many among the Super-Rich whose wealth will evaporate. Serves 'em right.

[JonQ]

15. Bear in mind

that the US even in a crises is better off than Brazil during a period of economic growth.

Gloat a little, but keep things in perspective.

[Hardrada]

17. In what respect, Cherlie?

[ooglymoogly]

21. LOL NT

[JonQ]

22. Average income

for starters.

[ooglymoogly]

32. I calls it the Silva doctrine

and what is that you might ask.

[JonQ]

33. Ok,

what is it?

[ooglymoogly]

48. Just my take on "in what respect Cherlie"

as in the Bush doctrine, vis a vie Sarah Palin

[ooglymoogly]

47. sorry wrong place

as in the Bush doctrine, vis a vie Sarah Palin

[EFerrari]

31. Yeah, we can still play those people good enough to come out on top.

[ronnie624]

41. For many,

a response to those primordial feelings of tribalism is too compelling to resist. Another one down thread, wants us to "bear in mind", that the U.S. economy is much larger than Brazil's, and that one is more likely to have ones personal property stolen there, therefore our country is better than theirs. The belief in ones cultural superiority requires some sort of rationalization, apparently.

Tribalism I believe, is the foundation for the justification of state aggression, violence and exploitation. It is also the precursor to racist contempt.

Slightly off topic perhaps, but I think relevant to our personal attitudes about the people of Latin America and elsewhere, as well as our acceptance of our government's policies of economic domination.

[JonQ]

42. Not exactly what I said

in fact, not at all what I said. I question your reading comprehension abilities.

I was responding to the smug attitude some were showing, as if this somehow put us on par with Brazil. Not the case.

For instance, you enjoy playing some sport, football let's say. And you are routinely beaten by another team. And not just a little, it's a bloodbath every time. Then you here that that other team lost in a game to another very good team by a few points. You are understandably a little smug, you enjoy watching the guys that trounced you so thoroughly get taken down a peg so you gloat. Fine. But remember that they are still better than you. So while they may not be at the top of their game, they could still beat you every day, so watch how loudly you badmouth them in public, it may prove embarassing for you.

No doubt a great many people around the world living in mud huts and eating food donated by the US are rejoicing at the thought that the US economy has hit rough times, that doesn't mean they wouldn't trade places with us in a heartbeat.

[knixphan]

67. Right on target, imho!

[sendero]

38. Keep telling yourself that bucko..

.... you have no idea what is in store, like most folks.

[JonQ]

39. People have been predicting the destruction of the american

economy since, what the 60s? The japanese were going to overtake us, no it's oil shortages, never mind I meant the .com bubble, no wait it's china, no oil shortages again, no I really meant the AIG bailout, no wait it's the . . . .

I guess, like those guys with signs on the streetcorner, if you predict doom enough times it will eventually come true. Maybe not in your lifetime, or even in this century, but eventually. Then everyone will look back on you as a sage.

Or not.

[sendero]

54. Just because someone cries "wolf"..

... does not mean the wolf can never appear. If you had the SLIGHTEST idea of what is happening right now, you'd be a lot less sanguine.

[JonQ]

57. Oh well in that case

I'm now certain that the US will collapse very soon. Within the year we will all be starving in the streets, lining up to immigrate illegally in to mexico to find work, eating our own young.

Since someone such as yourself, who knows everything, even the future, is worried then clearly we are all doomed.

I'm going to start stocking up on guns and spam before they run out and declare martial law.

[Zhade]

51. HAHAHAHA! Oh, I love the smell of ignorant jingoism in the morning.

Smells like - arrogant dumbfuckery.

USA! USA! USA! We're #1 (in prison population)!

[JonQ]

58. Prison population?

I suggest you look up the meaning of non sequitur.

Anyway, with the US in the midst of apparently the worst financial disaster in the history of the human race, and with Brazil in it's prime, will you be moving to Brazil to seek a higher standard of living?

You seem to believe that they are better off, so will you back that up with action, or only meaningless talk on the internet?

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

60. In respect to the hundreds of nice, honest, friendly, hard-working Americans in this board

I haven't, in seven years in DU, said what I'm about to say. But, because of you, I'm going to.

I LIVE IN BRAZIL AND WOULD NEVER, EVER, EVER, WANT TO RAISE MY FAMILY IN THE UNITED STATES.

(Wouldn't mind living in a Western European country, though.)

[JonQ]

61. With all due respect

I'd say the fact that the United States, even in times of crises, gets more immigrants than Brazil, even during the best of times, says that a great many people disagree with your assessment.

[Bill McBlueState]

62. that doesn't actually say very much

A country's immigration rate is a function of its quality of life compared to that of its neighbors. Since Brazil and the US aren't neighbors, simply comparing their immigration rates won't work.

For example, Mexicans might be more interested in emigrating than Argentinians.

[JonQ]

63. Brazil is bordered

by Venezuela, Suriname, Guyana, Colombia, Bolivia, Peru, Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay. Alot of very poor countries there, with more people than Mexico. Also the US doesn't receive all of it's immigrants from Mexico.

But this is getting a little far out there. My original point was that despite this the US still has a higher standard of living. And it does, Brazils GDP/capita is $6,842, the US is $43,594.

So as I've said multiple times, they can gloat over this, but keep things in perspective. From the way some are talking you'd think Brazil had overtaken the US. Clearly this is not the case.

[Bill McBlueState]

64. Is GDP per capita the only metric of standard of living?

I suspect it's one of many metrics, rather than the only one.

[JonQ]

65. Ok

name one, quantifiable measurement that relates to standard of living regarding their economic health in which they surpass us.

[The Backlash Cometh]

16. Oh, that's gotta hurt.

[Mudoria]

19. Not really...

but it sure is good for a laugh at the source of the remarks. :rofl:

[fascisthunter]

55. never for the brainwashed nationalists

especially those who benefit directly from screwing the average American. SO much for patriotism...

[Sivafae]

25. Brazil's not looking so bad...

[Odin2005]

26. This crash is a perfect example of the Have-Mores's greed got in the way of good sense.

They are going to have to learn the same hard lesson they learned in the 30s, even they are not immune to their own fuck-ups; a lot of the super-rich Investor Class will become "merely rich" as a result of loosing their shirts in this debacle. the people claiming that this was some sort of conspiracy seem to forget that the only people that are benefiting from this are a few lucky speculators and the CEOs that got out with their bonuses just as the shit hit the fan. The majority of the Investor Class is about to lose a lot of wealth.

[MadinMo]

28. I suspect we better get used to this kind of opinion about the US.

[EFerrari]

30. To hearing it or reading it, anyway.

The opinion has been out there pretty much since US corporations started preying on Latin America.

[Mesteryo]

29. This week Wall Street..

Made me feel like an economic genius.

[Pavulon]

35. Brazils economy is a rounding error

when compared with US gdp..

That is pretty funny.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_GDP_(PPP)_per_capita

Can I walk two blocks in sao paulo now without getting my laptop stolen?? NO.

[DCKit]

37. They would be better off under our heel, owned by ferners and in debt to the World Bank?

Sorry, but GDP is not the only indicator of a people's wealth or standard of living. My own (R) father "needs" (his words) 10x more/month to live on than I do, and I nearly stroked out when he told me so. Then I completely lost it when he insinuated that he's somehow owed, by U.S., that kind of income in his retirement. The "average" American standard does not apply south of the border.

Their food is cheap and plentiful, labor, health care and energy costs/requirements are low and few in Central or South America carry our burden of rampant consumerism, energy use and spending. Additionally, many C.A. and S.A. countries have neither property or income tax. All of these things would collapse under the American model.

Any comparisons based on GDP alone has no basis in reality. Grinding poverty exists, but every one of those newly leftist countries is making great progress to the benefit of their people. The only difference in perspective I see is between those who consider themselves "Spanish" (white) or Mestizo (indigenous) and they hold the same differences of opinion you find her between the (R)s and the (D)s and is the same reasoning the former, white, colonialist gentry of Cuba continue to vote Republican in south Florida.

I know people from most of those countries, and the S.O. deals with those countries - as well as those in the Caribbean - daily, so please don't anyone try to tell me I don't know what I'm talking about.

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

40. If you consider one fifth a "rounding error"

Remember me to never hire your services as a statistician.

By the way: That was relevant to the OP topic... how?

By the way II, the sequel: If GDP per capita makes a better country, why don't you go live in Qatar? Or Singapore?

[Pavulon]

50. 1/13 gdp

rounding error. US economy is the biggest wealth engine in the history of the world. Sorry, them is the facts.

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

59. Oh, first it was per capita, now it's not? Typical. Read your own links.

And my point of "why does this invalidate the OP?" still waits for a reply.

[bemildred]

44. I want to point out that Lula is NOT making fun of the USA.

He is making fun of the big swinging dicks on wall street and in the banking system.

[HereSince1628]

46. I suspect most people don't make the same nuanced distinction.

For many, including some DU'ers, it's a chance for schadenfreude.

[bemildred]

49. That's why I thought to mention it.

It seems to be both an opportunity for schadenrfeude and for Brazil bashing. I think actually there is a commonality of interest at work, as the big swinging dicks on Wall Street and in finance are not friends of anyone but themselves.

[fascisthunter]

56. yeah, but you are saying what should already be obvious...

now you know what those who get defensive about are actually defending... they aren't defending us average Americans, or AMerica itself, however they are defending Wall Street and the pigs who Lula is calling out.

[opihimoimoi]

52. The GOP/Bush has made America a JOKE.....a Large Joke....

His Failures for 8 years have been duly noted...and now then World Watches us ponder a McCrumbs and a Mooseburger and worry we will choose them