|
In the opinion of Brazilian professor Roberto Schaeffer, of the Coppe/UFRJ (Coordination of Postgraduate Engineering Programs at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro) Energy Planning Program, the government should stay out of the ethanol price war going out in Brazil right now.
Schaeffer opposes what he sees as interference with a market that is experiencing a problem related to the inter-harvest period. Alcohol, he recalled, is an agricultural commodity, and its price is determined by the market. The professor said that he is opposed to any kind of intervention in a sector which is in frank expansion around the world and which has aroused the interest of various countries as a result of the application of the Kyoto Protocol. "With the appearance of flex-fuel cars (which run on either alcohol or gasoline), there is, for the first time, the possibility of a truly competitive market in terms of alcohol-powered vehicles. People can decide to fill up with alcohol or gasoline," he observed. In Schaeffer's view, the problem is a reflection of the inter-harvest period, and only the market can regulate the sector, at the proper moment, moreover. "Right now petroleum prices are extremely high, and the sugar market is extremely interesting. Given the appeal of the world sugar market, mill owners can produce a little more sugar and a little less alcohol. "It's the market. That is why I disagree with the government's idea of fixing alcohol prices. If the price goes up and consumers are dissatisfied, they now have the option to switch." According to the professor, the increase in alcohol prices is even healthy, since it attracts investments to the country. "This is clearly a moment when the international alcohol market is extremely stoked. What this means is that, with Russia's ratification of the Kyoto Protocol last year and the protocol's having taken effect in February, 2005, a large number of countries are seriously considering adding alcohol to gasoline. This is boosting alcohol exports, which amounted to 3 billion liters last year," he informed. Schaeffer stated that he sees no problem with an agricultural commodity varying in price. "This applies to wheat and to coffee. Frost affects the price of either one. What's the problem?" He added: "This type of market intervention is unnecessary, even more so since we are talking about an item that is consumed by the middle class for personal transportation. Diesel, which has an impact extending to public transportation, is one thing. A middle class fuel is another. In no way should it be a government priority to concern itself with a market that functions well. Prices rise and fall all over the world, and in no place is the price fixed." Agência Brasil
 |
Subscribe to this comment's feed
Brazil received a huge boost in its international image with its selection as the host of the 2016 Olympics, but it was really just the cherry on top of the overall recognition of the country's ascension to the ranks of one of the world's most important countries. Now, as it finally takes its place on the world scene, there has been a great deal of concern about what kind of image Brazil hopes to project, now that the world is really paying attention. 
The only good thing to say about the visit to Brazil of Iran's president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, on Monday November 23, is that it was mercifully short and lasted less than 24 hours. Ahmadinejad had his picture taken being hugged by president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva who gave him a warm welcome and said Iran had every right to develop nuclear energy for peaceful purposes. 
The small, coastal town of Condé is located just a twenty minute's drive from João Pessoa, the capital of Paraíba. The Northeast of Brazil has historically been a place of encounter and mixing between peoples. For millenia groups of indigenous people fished, farmed, migrated and sometimes fought along this large, fertile area. 
The Brazilian diplo-MÁ-cia (bad diplomacy) carries on its accelerated course towards the non-acknowledgment of human rights, although sometimes it takes pleasure in saying that it does precisely the opposite. The visit of Iran's president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, is another example of a diplomatic omission that verges on hypocrisy. 
On July 4, 2006, representatives of Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay met in Caracas to sign the protocol for the entrance of Venezuela into the Southern Common Market (Mercosur). After two and a half years, the protocol was approved by the legislative bodies of Argentina and Uruguay, and as of now it may be only days away from being ratified by the continent's economic megalith, Brazil. 
Some sectors of the fight against AIDS have suggested that Thabo Mbeki, the former president of South Africa, committed genocide through his absence from the fight against the illness in his country throughout his two terms. 
One hundred and eleven years after Brazil abolished slavery, the number of workers deprived of their freedom is still huge. They raise cattle, produce charcoal, sugar cane or timber. Some of them, most undocumented Bolivians, work in basements of small apparel factories in São Paulo and other metropolis. 
On November 7, 2009 a few friends and I had an opportunity to take a look inside a Brazilian jail outside the city of Rio de Janeiro. We were able to take some amateur footage of our experience on video (see link below). It's no surprise, of course, that the typical Brazilian jail lacks some of the functionality of those in North America or Europe, but our experience that day was quite shocking. 
Depletion of the Amazon Rainforest is not a new concern facing environmentalists, biologists, ecologists, and a growing number of the Amazonian indigenous peoples. For decades they have feared for the fate of the world's most biologically diverse and species-rich hothouse. 
Geisy Arruda made history this week in Brazil, but for all the wrong reasons. What began as a poorly planned fashion statement has become a worldwide tale. Geisy decided to wear a pink mini-dress to her private college in São Paulo state, and after that, all hell broke loose.
Therefore meddling the government to control and decide of everything is normal for him ! Everything shall be into his strong hands and wise decisions !
He even meddled the government to control and decide, through vote buying with heavy cash payments, what laws should get support ! Because he knows better than anyone else what is good for your country.
Wealth inequality, bureaucracy, lack of investments in infrastructure, lack of education ! Right ?
He even wants to impose his views at the WTO for what the developed nations nut shall but must do on their agriculture subsidies. Right ? but he forgot that he his subsidizing all brazilian export industries, not only agriculture. What he does is correct ! right !
He even does trade deals with Argentina and China that are the exact opposite of what he ask at the WTO !
Ohhh sure these deals are not done at the WTO but backstage and published and announced only when already signed !
That is what is fair...for him !
Someone once asked him : do you know what fair and reciprocity means ?
His answer was : what....what.....what are you talking about ? I never heard these 2 words, I dont know what they mean, and trust me, they are not even in Brazilian dictionary and even less in what I learned in school or while I was a leader of the PT party !!!!