The Rising Influence of Rising Affluence

[DewDiligence]

Brazil’s Rousseff borrows a page from China:

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/22/world/americas/brazil-combats-slowdown-with-even-more-stimulus.html

Ms. Rousseff’s assertiveness in enhancing the government’s role in molding economic policy is not wholly unlike China’s state-led investment, an increasingly popular model in the developing world. Brazil’s stimulus spending has helped preserve jobs, keeping unemployment at a historic low of 5.8 percent, down from 13 percent a decade ago.

…Ms. Rousseff’s government is showing its teeth to Brazil’s financial elite again this year. She has seized on the economic slowdown as an opportunity to persuade Brazil’s private banks to lower interest rates, which until recently were among the highest in the world…

There’s a lot more detail in this article for those who are interested in Brazil.