MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency
Almost 40 million Brazilians climbed to middle class in the last eight years
An estimated 39.5 million Brazilians climbed to the middle class between 2003 and May 2011 according to a report from the Getulio Vargas Foundation, FGV, released Monday and which underlined inclusion and inequality reduction as the main forces. Read full article
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Disclaimer & comment rulesI'm quite sure Geoff will soon comment to let us know his contempt towards those 40 million and his feelings of British petty burgeois superiority.
Jun 28th, 2011 - 06:18 am - Link - Report abuse 0That clown will come up with something, though he knows that his British petty burgeois superiority is slowly fading away...and it hurts him terrible. in his heart :D
Jun 28th, 2011 - 07:15 pm - Link - Report abuse 0I do not know Geoff so am unable to comment about whether he will or will not comment.
Jun 29th, 2011 - 12:06 am - Link - Report abuse 0Instead I will comment on the story.
Living in Brasil I hope that I have some insight into what is happening here. Yes the economy is growing in leaps and bounds. Yes many more have gone from level D to level C3. Now how did they get there? Was it through Job development? Sorry to say No. In fact the manufacturing sector is down below the 2003 level. Was it through improved infrastructure? No wrong again. Many of the proposed planned and costed improvements have stopped due to “Superfaturmento”. For those who don't know that is the Brazillian word for the way to steal the public money legally. You bid for a contract, Start it and charge prices such as R$100,00 for each brick. Before you know it you have used up all the money given to youby the Govt.. You then tell your friend in power that the construction will cost 10X more than expected. He rubbs his hands, loads hyis socks or underpants with your “contribution” and endorses the increase. You then discover that the new bricks will cost R$250,00 each.
Sooner or later the person in Brasillia or more likely someone in the media, who did not get an exclusive interview, spills the beans. The work stops. There is an oficial enquiry. The country moves on.
Then how did there become a larger middle class?
The Government does not want the people to starve or be miserable so they developed the “Bosa Familiar” This money takes anyone on the basic wage with 2 or more children up into the middle class. Many of these people have no experience with a surplus in the pocket so buy more, mainly on credit. I know supermarkets that are allowing you to buy your food now and not have to pay until August.
That is the way Brasil gets an increase in the middle class.
Long live P.T..
Hi gang #1, 2: won't disappoint you!
Jun 29th, 2011 - 01:12 am - Link - Report abuse 0“Almost 40 million Brazilians climbed to middle class in the last eight years”
Yes, thanks Mark #3,
Another 40 million tax-payers? I guess there should be, as the monthly income that defines the entry to the middle class is the same as that which you start paying income tax.
What percentage of Brasilians are contributing to the development of their country through the tax contribution system? Any figures Forgetit? Any speculation on % tax avoidance by social class category?
Credit Card interest rate?
UK 17% per year; Brasil 12% per *month* - becoming Middle Class 'on tick' in Brasil is so, so dangerous for the financially unsophisticated upgraders.
There is personal pain ahead, and political problems in its train.
@MarkW
Jun 29th, 2011 - 01:31 am - Link - Report abuse 0Your post is so filled with base partisan polemics, that I would normally ignore it. But since you tried so hard, I'll give you my two cents.
- One could say that manufacturing is carrying a burden due to the expensive currency, but to say it's receded to 2003 levels in ludicrous. In 2003 Brazil had just escaped - and badly so - from a currency crisis that brought about major unemployment. Nothing of the sort has happened recently. And I can prove you with official data that manufacturing is above what it was pre-financial crisis levels, let alone pre-2004 levels. And BTW, what is it that is under 2003 levels: is it employment or production? If it's production, the above works as a reply. If employment, then you should consider that manufacturing - except for certain sectors such as that of textiles - isn't a major job creator since it's so mechanized. The services sector is the real job creator in today's economies, and BR, whose economy is accounted by a large part (65%) by the services sector, is no exception to that. In fact, you failed to recognize that unemployment today is in far lower levels than it was just 5 years ago. You should take that into account - and also real wage's increases, about 60% in eight years - before dumbly suggesting that class mobility is due to welfare programs (which, BTW, I don't even like very much either).
- You like it or not, infrastructure has improved from what it was just a few years ago. In 2007 BR was the 61st country in the World Bank's Logistics Performance Index. In 2010, it was 41st, having had the largest improvement in all countries the WB investigated. This reflects heightened investment levels. In 2007 and 2008 investment growth (~13%) was ~2.5x larger than total GDP growth (~5.5%). In 2010 it was 3 times larger (21% vs 7.5%). Investment has in fact been a major contributor to the economic growth, even if infrastructure still leaves much to be desired by today's demand levels.
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