Blogs about the Brazilian economy

The "engrish" version of my blog in Portuguese has been pretty slow. I do apologize to my 3,474,685 English speaking readers for keeping you waiting for new posts. Meanwhile, I would like to share a couple of excellent blogs written by Brazilians:

- Alexandre Schwartsman occasionally writes in English on current brazilian macro issues;

- Drunkeynesian is probably the best Economics blog in Portuguese. But its author wrote in English for the Global Economic Symposium.

PS: Check JP Morgan's Brazil Country Handbook for an overview of current issues.

I am not optimistic about the Brazilian economy in the long term #1

Here in Madrid people ask me frequently about my personal views on the future of Brazil. I do not have anything particularly interesting or insightful to say, but I share the concerns of many fellow economists that there are major problems ahead:

• The huge demographic bonus is going to end soon: here and here;
• The pension system is insane: here (pdf) and here (pdf in Portuguese) and there are no signs of major changes.

(to be continued...)

Homicides in Rio: a review of the data

I am so sorry. Back in February I wrote about the sharp fall of the homicide rate in the state of Rio de Janeiro. Daniel Cerqueira, an IPEA economist , has just found out that the data is seriously flawed (in Portuguese). Check Graph 4.2.  From 2006 on, there was a huge increase of violent deaths with "unknown causes" and the victims have demographic profiles strangely similar to the victims of homicides. True, homicide rates have fallen, but it was not as sharp as the official data shows.

Brazilian States Renamed for Countries with Similar GDPs

Here by The Economist. Back in 2007 Davi Zell and I tried to make a similar map. But I must admit that the Economist one is much better. (The original idea, as far as I know, comes from strange maps.)

"Brazil's achievements and Challenges" by Luiz de Melo

An excellent introduction to Brazilian contemporary economic issues with emphasis on macroeconomics and the educational problems. (HT José Roberto Afonso).