Irredeemable?

By the end of 2016, Brazil’s economy may be 8 percent smaller than it was during the first quarter of 2014, reports the Economist. Commodity prices are slumping, and GDP could shrink by a fifth. Some call for the president’s impeachment; legislators are under investigation for accepting bribes related to contracts with the state-controlled oil-and-gas company, Petrobras. The Economist describes government spending, taxes, debt, pensions as increasingly unmanageable, adding the nation’s “penchant for consensus” could prevent domestic unrest. Reforms are needed quickly, the article concludes, and young, well-educated government employees offer a sign of hope: “But every month of dithering and every new petrolão revelation chips away at Brazil’s prospects. The 2010s are already certain to be another lost decade; GDP per person won’t rebound for years to come.” Brazil ranks as the world’s seventh largest economy. – YaleGlobal