Me Ol' China , one month away from China...

A popular advert on BBC world or CNN used to say “We are living in… financial times”… Well, welcome to the Financial world! I can certainly say that I have never seen a mess like this. I can certainly say that without the States around we would be begging in the streets for a bullet in our heads or selling body parts to those few who have no problem in surviving crisis. I am sure that Scavengers are proliferating and that not all the money sent to help the banks is entering the system. Money should be focused. States entering the board of banks or just buying shares is a temporary solution but I believe that the long term solution is to help the system as a whole and replacing the banks where these are showing shortfalls.

Someone talks of World crisis, someone else about Western crisis because the Asians are not suffering. Bull crap! They are suffering and they started suffering before… I was in Beijing and the Shanghai index was falling constantly. Growth of 10% of China is like a recession in the States, probably this is not that clear. China is used to other levels of growth and at least 70% of their growth rate is systemic.

I remember the 1992 crisis but compared to this was a wind pain compared to the heart attack we are suffering. The comparison with other periods keep pissing me off and this time, I can really say, that there is no comparison and we are forgetting anything we created to behave properly and keep things under control. We are at pure madness and the “each one for oneself and God for all” is the motto.

Over here in Brazil, all of a sudden clouds are appearing and the Central Bank and the Government have intervened heavily. If Brazil had a free exchange and a less regulated market, I am sure we would have been in a serious dangerous position. True that the Brazilians are used to crisis but they are used to have someone who takes them out of trouble too and this time not many can help. When Latam crisis have taken place there was either Argentina or Brazil there to help, now seems like the situation is going to be very different.

The Fidel Group of countries are in trouble and so Argentina. Some say that the leftist policies have much to see with this but I do not think so, or, at least, not totally. It’s like saying that someone choked on a glass of water during a flooding… peculiarities that common sense can easily rule out.

So, what next? Someone has called for the IMF to intervene. I am afraid of 1984’s Orwell becoming true and even more afraid of what can derive from IMF policies implemented worldwide. Those who see it as a Breton Woods find me seeing it as a V for Vendetta begins…

I don’t know the feeling in Europe but here in Brazil we look at it as you watch a voyeur’s show… Expecting something to happen and getting used to the big numbers (negative of course) as if they were not big enough… “Wow, -10%” and a laugh goes… We are waiting for someone to take us out…

Anyway, let’s go back to this place I am in: Sao Paulo.

“do you like Brazil?” is the most common question you get and honest as I am I find hard to tell the truth to the kind people asking me. I must be honest, so far I do not like Sao Paulo, I do not like the lifestyle, food is heavy and the place it’s a bit too much for me. Everything is a bit too much.

Someone told me once that it is no fun in talking to me about places because I always say good things about any place. When I started talking bad about places like Australia, Ireland, Netherlands and now Brazil seemed like I was hurting everybody’s dreams. Sorry guys, I just do not like the places. What can I do?

I am counting the days to go home to Italy for a break and counting the months to the end of this contract to go back to China. I haven’t got a job there yet but the mind is set and this is more than enough for me.

My typical day here is. Alarm at 6am, gym, check emails and so on, work around 8.30, sandwich or fast food at 12.30 and leave the office between 7.30 and 8.30 in the evening. Dinner and during weekends pub and or music club. I am sure that to many of you it sounds ok. To me, it doesn’t. If you have followed my blog while I was in China you must have noticed the change of it. I had always something to tell about the people and the place… Over here the funniest thing I found was a sign by the elevator saying: Make sure the elevator is here before you step in or the one, it’s a law against discrimination in the elevators. You cannot ask anyone to get out of it (unless this person has infectious diseases). The nicest walk I have is a 500-565 steps between the gates of my hotel and the office... Soon I will start timing it to bit the record…

One evening I have been to a shopping mall and I was really wondering how many people can actually afford anything sold there. Life is normally expensive in Sao Paulo but in there prices were outrageous. Not even 200 meters away from this ostentation of wealth, here you go with Paraisopolis, the 80,000 people slum in the middle of a rich quarter. This is were you start really wondering about the meaning of life and if it is really fair that these countries tend to grow richer and richer without leaving anything behind to the poorest sectors of society.

People talk gladly about the good political class Brazil has been enjoying since the 90’s, honestly, I think that measuring the happiness with the GDP is an old way of seeing life and I rather prefer looking at the people faces and measure the extension of their smiles.

For sure I have seen less sad faces in Argentina during the hard days than here during the booming days.
Anyway folks, I start my weekend now and I wish you a good week ahead. Catch you later! TaTa!