Brazil raises cane over U.S. ethanol tariff

Chris Kraul-The Los Angeles Times, 11/04/09
“Brazilian sugar producers say sugar-based fuel is more environmentally sound than electricity or corn ethanol as an alternative for powering cars. But the odds are long for a change.”
The Los Angeles Times investigates the U.S. tariffs on ethanol, the impact of biofuel on the environment, and the possibility of electric [...]

Brazil’s Billionaire Boom

Keren Blankfeld-Forbes, 11/04/09
For decades, Brazilians joked, “Brazil is the land of the future, and it always will be.” Brazilian billionaires might say the future is now.
In March, when we tallied our list of the world’s billionaires, Brazil boasted 13 moguls with 10-figure fortunes. Riding a surging equities markets and a strengthening of the Brazilian real [...]

Lula gives state heavier hand in Brazil economy

Raymond Colitt-Reuters, 11/03/09
Emboldened by emergency measures that helped pull Brazil out of a brief recession, President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva is intervening more aggressively in the economy and betting on big government.
While many governments in the world are plotting exit strategies from the crisis measures adopted over the last year, the center-leftist Lula is [...]

Brazil’s Real Gains for 2nd Day on Capital-Inflows Speculation

Camila Fontana-Bloomberg, 11/04/09
Brazil’s real gained for a second day as analysts speculated capital flows into the South American country will continue to boost the currency.
The currency strengthened 0.8 percent to 1.7395 per dollar at 7:07 a.m. in New York, from 1.7446 yesterday. The central bank is expected to release capital-flows data for last week at [...]

Crisis averted?

Carola Hoyos-Financial Times, 11/04/09
The drop in oil demand due to the world economic downturn, and recent oil exploration successes in Brazil, the US and west Africa, may have allayed fears that the world is running out of oil, but prices could rise once again as the economy recovers and demand outstrips supply.
That is exactly what [...]

Report: Reducing Emissions Growth in Emerging Economies Could Be Cheap

Elizabeth Malkin-The New York Times, 11/03/09
How much would it cost to stop increasing greenhouse gas emissions in Mexico? According to a new study from the World Bank, not very much.
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The report is one of six studies on low-carbon growth in emerging economies that the bank has been carrying out — though it is the only [...]

Racial legacy that haunts Brazil

Gary Duffy-BBC, 11/04/09
The BBC’s Gary Duffy looks at how the African heritage of the Brazilian city of Salvador raises questions about race.
Read more…

French Anthropologist Claude Levi-Strauss Dies at 100

The Associated Press, 11/03/2009
PARIS — Claude Levi-Strauss, widely considered the father of modern anthropology for work that included theories about commonalities between tribal and industrial societies, has died. He was 100. The French intellectual was regarded as having reshaped the field of anthropology, introducing structuralism — concepts about common patterns of behavior and thought, especially [...]