This is progress

Brazil (like pretty much every country) isn’t without its problems. But it has made big progress – particularly when you take a slightly longer term view. It’s a country that has taken 22 million people out of poverty since 2003. A key factor in achieving this has been a r

Growth is not enough

There’s a fantastic new RSA animation questioning what we want our economies to achieve, based on a talk by Kate Raworth, which is well worth watching.   It seems very pertinent to the approach we’re taking with the IRIBA project. Brazil hasn’t had the most spectacular head

Brazil’s infrastructure issues

Major problems surrounding the construction of the stadiums has dominated the build-up to the World Cup this year. Although it’s a common refrain around many major sporting events, IRIBA’s joint research director Dr Ed Amann argues that the problems epitomise a broader malaise surroun

Giving money to the poor

With growing interest in social protection programmes in many developing countries, some worry that transferring money directly to the poor will reduce their incentive to seek paid work. The evidence from Brazil suggests this isn’t the case. From 2003-2009, while the increase in non-w

What’s so interesting about Brazil’s development?

Reading the headlines in the British media recently, you could be forgiven for thinking that Brazil has rapidly become a basket case. According to some commentators the economy is bust, protests are out of control and the World Cup is doomed to failure – so can Brazil’s example really