the real remains basically sound, the government is successful in adhering to its policies of fiscal restraint and joblessness helps wages stay level, inflation should not rise much above 5 percent in 1999 and bump along in the single digits in 2000. (8)The state has garnered close to $30 billion since seriously promoting the sales of state assets in the early 1990s. The Government is a champion of privatization and 1998 saw the most revenue yet from the program. It is predicted that privatization will stay on course for the foreseeable future, although revenue will fall. (8)The alarmist reports coming out of Brazil following the devaluation gave pause to many investors, but many Brazilians argued that the crisis was less dramatic than foreign press reports indicated. There was good news in the devaluation in that it made Brazilian assets cheaper in dollar terms and investors are expected to take advantage. With membership in the Mercosur trade bloc, Brazil is also seen as an attractive gateway to the rest of the Southern Cone and the government has been lifting restrictions on foreign investment. Direct foreign investment in the first six months of 1999 was around $14 billion. (8) Brazils Economy Compared to the U.S.Brazil population is about 110 million less than the U.S. (158m vs 268m), although the area in SQ. KM are very similar. Brazils GDP per capita is significantly lower than the U.S. ($4,820 vs. $30,149), but is very typical of third world countries. The GDP in the U.S. is one of the highest in the world, being one the most productive countries in the world. The Inflation rate in Brazil is about 4.8 percent compared to the U.S. 2.3%. It never good to have a high inflation rate and neither Brazil nor the United States do so. Brazil is doing very good keeping inflation down, especially compared to many other Latin American countries that, like Venezuela, have as high a 30% inflation rate. Brazils GDP is down 1% compared t...
