Daniel Silveira tem quase R$ 500 mil bloqueados em suas contas bancárias

The recent actions of the ECB and the Federal Reserve have driven the final nail in the coffin of Capitalism and Democracy. Both these cornerstones of our civilization have been on life support for years. Central bankers decided last week to ‘pull the plug’. Capitalism and Democracy will be replaced with a hybrid economic system combining the attributes of the old Soviet Union’s command economy, the Oligarchy’s of South America and efficiency and integrity of today’s of today’s economic system [with a dose of fascism thrown in for good measure].

Dear reader, Paul Getty once famously said that ‘a billion dollars isn’t worth what it used to be’. Clearly one could now say that ‘a trillion dollars isn’t worth what it used to be’. We have become numb to the ever larger numbers that are used by politician and economists to describe our current circumstances. It made me wonder what comes after a trillion. My initial thought was a bazillion or gazillion. Much to my surprise several friends were able to correctly identify that after a trillion, the next number is a quadrillion. Give yourself a pat on the back if you were able to correctly identify this number.

Much of the 20th century revolved around a conflict between capitalism and socialism. On both sides there were many people willing to die for either system. My response is that a system – any system – is a tool and nothing more than a tool; and the point is not to be a purist to either system but to maximize benefits of all systems while doing away with their negative effects.

At the start of 2013 a number of experts were suggesting a significant slowdown of the Brazilian economy which has for some time been the centre stone of the Latin American revival. Some experts were predicting economic growth for 2013 as low as 0.9% although after a revival in the first part of 2013 these forecasts have been substantially upgraded.

As the administration in Washington, D.C. continue to pretend as if they are working to grow America, the statistical facts point in an otherwise poorer direction. To combat this attack by the government that is supposed to be “For the People,” many are taking matters in their own hands by relocating to other states where the job market offers some hope of employment, even if those jobs are minimal wage.