Word: brazil
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...contrarian bets in devastated emerging markets, most memorably in Russia after it defaulted on its debt in 1998. At the time, says Weiss, the entire Russian stock market was valued at about half the price of the U.S. company Home Depot. Now, markets in countries like Russia, China, Vietnam, Brazil and India - all adored by investors until recently - have crashed. But Weiss still isn't ready to plunge in. "I don't think the emerging markets are cheap enough yet," he says. "I don't think people hate them enough...
...What's more, this is no longer an exclusively American crisis. European banks are going under as well. Growth rates in the euro zone and Japan have fallen further than in the U.S. Emerging markets too are suffering. With the exception of Brazil, stock markets in the BRIC economies (Brazil, Russia, India and China) are now down about 40% or more on the year...
...high point of his ambitions, will be fading, opening the Republican ticket for Palin. Furthermore, with Obama losing in 2008, Hillary Clinton will come back unstoppable, next time around. Then, whichever way it goes, we will have a woman in the White House. Pedro J. de Rezende, SAO PAOLO, BRAZIL...
Lula's biggest challenge, though, has been bridging the huge chasm between Brazil's rich and poor--a gap that makes the country look more like the feudal monarchy it was in the 19th century than the modern democracy it wants to be in the 21st. Lula, who as an impoverished kid shined shoes on the streets of São Paulo, has pumped more than $100 billion into social projects ranging from microfinance to grants for families who keep their kids in school. As a result, 52% of Brazil's 190 million people are now designated as middle class...
...successes, though, some of Brazil's oldest maladies have proved stubbornly resistant to Lula's ministrations. Official corruption remains rampant; Lula blames a fetid political culture "that has been there for centuries," but that's an old excuse. One of his election promises was to clean up Brazilian politics, and with two years to go--rules forbid him to seek a third consecutive term--he'll have to start wielding the broom vigorously. The education system, despite increased funding and access, is still an embarrassment: Brazilian students continue to score at the bottom on international math and reading tests. Taxes...