We all know things have been tumultuous in Brazilian economics over the past thirty years.
Those of us who are recent immigrants to Brazil have NO IDEA about (or better, no practical experience with) the roller coaster of the past local economic reality.
Listen to this recent US National Public Radio – Planet Money podcast that lays out a stunning picture of the bullet we have dodged.
Inflation in the past in Brazil was unbelievable.
Monetary policy was unfathomable.
Listen to this podcast. It is eye-opening. Seriously. Listen to it. It's not boring and it is very understandable.
Stabilizing the economy/currency in Brazil has not been an easy process. Ask any of the Brazilian friends you have over 60 years old. They have lived through it. This story explains why people have been stashing away chunks of cash in secret hideaways outside of the banks for so many years. It helps to explain why people run to the bank to cash a check the day they receive it.
Give it a listen. It's good stuff.
[all those links go to the same place - I just got excited...]
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3 comments:
I think Brazil's inflation record was well beaten by Zimbabwe's ove the last few years where inflation ran to over 1000%.
I caught the tail end of this as an exchange student in 1991-1992. You only changed US$20 at a time. You spent your whole paycheck at once before it devalued. I was teaching English and I would get paid 10 days before I had to pay my condominium fee and I SAVED money changing my paycheck into dollars and then back to cruzeiros in 10 days!
an egg going from $1 to $1000. whew.
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