With Brazil hosting the World Cup and clearly looking for more from their economy and society, this is a good piece to re-run from last year.
Around the world, two stories have been consistent since 2008 – the developed world is struggling with a depression while the developing world largely charges ahead. The two worlds have never been so far apart as the careen towards similarity. But in this hemisphere, three stories have come to show where it all comes together – how “wealthy” is what a nation feels more than how it is.
Forget how Japan and Europe are wallowing in desperation for a while – on this side of the big ponds things are happening. It may be slower than anyone wants, but change is happening. The reactions to that change show that my favorite saying is still true – that while people are people, cultures are cultures. Wealth, or at least the feeling of wealth, is a state of mind.
Barataria - The work of Erik Hare 