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Author Archive

Exhumation and Maradona: Antics and rotten fruit of the Bolivarian Revolution

Wednesday, 28 July 2010 11:27 Written by Dan Vecchi 2 Comments

Venezuela has become something between a Kundera power struggle with subjective jurisprudence and lack of freedom of speech and a Garcia novel where everything is unbelievable anywhere except for in the state of magical realism. As food shortages in Venezuela are aggravated by rotten food on the Colombian-Venezuelan border—a major blemish on Chavez’s ability to provide rations to the poor even if he had the oil money of the 2005 era—his saber-rattling begins once again. Chavez, with Argentine futbol superstar Diego Maradona at his side, has now severed relations with Colombia after Colombian President Uribe asked the OAS to look into Chavez’s relationship with the infamous left-wing narco-terrorists FARC and ELN. Although out-going President Uribe’s demands overstep his sovereignty, Chavez is not as innocent as he wants to be. He claims that the FARC and ELN should not be defined as terrorist organizations while there are links between Miraflores and FARC rebels. This is all happening as the Venezuelan economy is crumbling on top of the weak foundation on which it is based. In the midst of this, Chavez has exhumed the body of national independence leader, Simon Bolivar (who was more akin to Napolean than to Chavez), due to a Chavez-created conspiracy of a capitalist assassination of the Venezuelan idol 180 years ago.

The absurdity of farce and fiction in Caracas brings way too many questions as to the future stability of Venezuela. Reality has become subjective to the caprice of an authoritarian who has lost his ability to buy his political power. While Chavez’s friends (Morales in Bolivia, Correa in Ecuador, Ortega in Nicaragua, and to an extent the Kirchners in Argentina) may empower some of the poor, Chavez is leading Venezuela—and its poor and its rich—to the slaughter. For this egotistical bullishness, he will become a hero in the quixotic stylings of Ernesto Guevara, who is better remembered for an amorphous philosophy, a motorcycle bildungsroman, and mythical tattoos on Hollywood starlets, rather than the reality of suppression and corruption that appears to have been forgotten by history.

Economic policy and politics need to meet in the middle

Thursday, 08 July 2010 11:12 Written by Dan Vecchi 0 Comments

While economic policy and national politics have always been a couple, sometimes the relationship can be strained by the injection of partisanship. The current crisis requires insight into the actual issues to make policy suggestions. The United States is running a risk by having its economics so colored by bitter partisan divisions, as this is one area where there needs to be solidarity.

In a thought provoking GPS episode, Fareed Zakaria interviews two very different schools of thought on the actions necessary. His conclusions are that we must meet in the middle of the political agendas and look at the economic possibilities. Essentially, his view is that the U.S. government needs to spend more now while also reviewing entitlement programs to make sure each dollar is spent in the most efficient manner – a classic centrist approach.

It is always a risk for a country when political in-fighting colors international economic policy. That is true for Greece, Spain, China, Iceland, and, of course, the United States.

If Machiavelli was revaluing Chinese currency

Wednesday, 23 June 2010 07:15 Written by Dan Vecchi 3 Comments

The US has come close to labeling China as a manipulator of exchange rates. The undervalued renminbi allows for cheap exports, especially into their largest market: the EU. The last G-20 talks were a concerted effort to pressure China to allow the renminbi to rise, and last week the US got some, but not nearly enough. China has opened up to a crawling peg: a feckless economic move but a highly deft political move.

Since the last G-20 talks, the EU was emasculated by the Greek and Spanish crises, to which the US had to divert efforts away from nudging the Chinese into a more buoyant exchange rate. Even before loosening the exchange rate the renminbi had strengthened to the euro. Why would China allow their exports to become more expensive to their largest markets? China now has left the US flat on its heels with only a week to prepare complaints about the actual topic at hand—doing business in and with China—before the G-20 talks in Toronto, June 26-27. Brilliant timing.

Now, what is China’s end game in this? Obviously, the value of its currency is merely a tool in its larger political and economic strategy. So what does this mean and where is China going?

Brazil: A bright future overcomes inflation fears

Wednesday, 16 June 2010 14:56 Written by Dan Vecchi 0 Comments

Welcome to my first of many dispatches as director of economic risk analysis at Competitive Futures, Inc. I look forward to sharing with you some the insights we provide clients on current economic trends from around the world. Jumping right in: Is Brazil’s economy too hot?

These days, the orthodox view is that economic growth is GOOD, inflation is BAD. Most countries around the world have too little of the former and risk far too much from the latter, mostly from profligate spending and “quantitative easing.” Which is why it’s easy to see Brazil as a bright spot in the global economy. Brazil’s GDP growth is at a scorching 9%- which would normally be so hot as to cause worry of inflation. But wait – Brazil’s inflation won’t cause the same problems that the world will see in all the other countries at risk of inflation due to monster deficits. The land of futbol, caipirinhas and Copacabana is more dynamic and innovative than ever before, and will overcome inflation through investment.

Inflation in hot economies is often caused by a lack of sufficient infrastructure to meet growing demand. In Brazil, this won’t be a problem going forward, to listen to the country’s forward-looking economic policy makers. The country’s economic future appears to be poised to grow past any inflation concerns. The consumer market has grown exponentially for the past 15 years; massive investment opportunities such as the 2014 World Cup across Brazil and the 2016 Rio Olympics will see inflows from across the globe; and mass infrastructure projects in energy, transportation, and extraction (Franco fields and Tupí finds) are increasing. In a world where North America and Europe look backward to find their Golden Age, Brazil is looking at the next decades.

Imagine businesses looking for growing seeing Sao Paolo as a better bet for stability than the ailing eurozone or deficit prone North America. Brazil won’t be “one of the BRIC countries” it might be “where we have our headquarters.”

About the blog

This is the official trend blog of Competitive Futures, a management consultancy that provides trend research and analysis for business and government around the world. Here, we update you on interesting trends we see as part of our work for our clients.


For managing partner Eric Garland's new author and speaker blog, please consult and bookmark http://www.ericgarland.co

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