Via AmericaBlog: 35 million have joined the middle class in Brazil recently
35 million have joined the middle class in Brazil recently
The US economy is obviously quite different but there's something exciting about adding so many people in such a brief period of time. After decades of going up and down, Brazil has been on a roll for a number of years and it looks like it will continue. The middle class has grown because politicians decided to make it a priority. Sure there are problems, but this growth is impressive.Maybe someone in Washington might think about this issue one day and turn the tide of a shrinking middle class. For starters, leading Democrats need to stop the pathetic joke of praising the likes of Ronald Reagan and others who have exacerbated the problem that started in the 1970s. CNBC:
As the developed world struggles, Brazil grows faster, on the strength of its export economy, but also rising domestic demand. Its middle class continues to expand — and spend. An estimated 35 million people joined the middle class between 2003 to 2009, and 20 million more are expected to be included by 2014. Unemployment is at a relatively low 6.5 percent.
The Brazil story is not without its problems — inflation is running at more than 6.4 percent, near the top of its central bank's target range, its currency is arguably overvalued and real estate has seen outsized gains that seem unsustainable.
Brazil has taken steps to curb hot capital inflows, and it is trying to cool consumer credit growth from about 20 percent annually, to about 12 percent, by raising taxes on credit. The hyper-inflation of the 1990s is not such a distant memory, and the central bank is battling inflation with rate hikes and a current interest rate of 12 percent.
Comments
hmmm here, one of my professors asked her students to raise their hands if they think they're lower, upper, or middle class. They ALL raised their hands for middle class, meaning that the rich guy who drove his BMW to class raised his hand at the same time as the guy who has to be in ROTC to afford tuition. As Milton would probably agree, a big part of the problem is a matter of perception... though I am always confused about why we want a huge "middle class" per se instead of, i don't know, a new category that includes health care and social services. it seems like that just leaves the middle class to be exploited by a smaller upper class?