Peterson Perspectives Interview – John Williamson (podcast)

Listen to a podcast in which John Williamson suggests that the leaders of Brazil, Mexico, and Argentina will bring lessons from their own financial crises of a decade ago to the G-20 summit in mid-November. [Link to Peterson Perspectives Interview John Williamson podcast]

Knowledge and Innovation for Competitiveness in Brazil (podcast)

Innovation climates in developing countries tend to be characterized by poor business and governance conditions, low educational levels, and mediocre infrastructure. Innovation is essential for economic growth, hence improving innovation climates is essential for developing countries. This is the premise of the World Banks Knowledge for Development project, which provides policy advice to client countries [...]

Literature in the Amazon

When one thinks of the Amazon, rarely is art the first thing that comes to mind. But it was the Amazon, and the city of Manaus, specifically, that gave Brazil one of its most famous contemporary poets, Thiago de Mello, and a world renowned orchestra conductor, Claudio Santoro. Manaus is also the birthplace of Milton [...]

Brazil-U.S. Relations

The relationship between Brazil and the U.S. has rarely been better. In 2007 Luis Inácio “Lula” da Silva was the first Brazilian to visit Camp David, a meeting preceded by President George W. Bush’s trip to Brazil and followed by a visit by Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice. Still the Brazil-U.S. relationship has not been [...]

Brazil’s Emerging Economic Power

On April 30, 2008, Standard & Poor’s became the first ratings agency to raise Brazil’s foreign debt to investment-grade status—Fitch Ratings, the second of the world’s largest three ratings agency, followed suit a few days later. These unprecedented decisions, coupled with the discovery of massive new oil and gas reserves, boost Brazil’s prospects for continued, [...]

Brazil’s National Innovation System

The podcast interview with Ricardo Sennes, director of the consulting firm Prospectiva International and professor of International Relations at PUC-SP, analyzes public-private partnerships, the challenges of Brazil’s national innovation system, and the importance of the private sector in spurring innovation.

Right click and “save target as” to download the podcast with Ricardo Sennes (mp3).

Innovation in Brazil’s Health Biotech Sector

As Brazil seeks to solidify its position as an emerging economic power, policymakers, business leaders and scholars are focusing on how the country can better employ a coherent and robust national innovation strategy to diversify the its economy and achieve higher, sustainable levels of growth.
On July 31, 2008, the Brazil Institute held the fourth [...]