In Brazil, many economists say the declining value of the country’s iron ore and soybeans has revealed that Brazil’s leaders failed to invest in infrastructure when the money was pouring in.
Silvésio de Oliveira, a soybean farmer in the midwestern state of Mato Grosso and a vice president of his state soy and corn farmers’ association, said years of insufficient investment in highways and ports finally caused a crisis this year.
Mr. Oliveira said an “infrastructure collapse” drove up freight costs and led several big foreign purchasers, tired of waiting for deliveries that never came, to cancel their orders.
Carlos Langoni, a former governor of Brazil’s central bank, said that infrastructure had become a significant constraint on growth. But he also noted that some of the country’s problems are similar to those in other developing economies.
Global Business
Economies Rise as Growing Markets Begin to Falter
In Brazil, many economists say the declining value of the country’s iron ore and soybeans has revealed that Brazil’s leaders failed to invest in infrastructure when the money was pouring in.
Silvésio de Oliveira, a soybean farmer in the midwestern state of Mato Grosso and a vice president of his state soy and corn farmers’ association, said years of insufficient investment in highways and ports finally caused a crisis this year.
Mr. Oliveira said an “infrastructure collapse” drove up freight costs and led several big foreign purchasers, tired of waiting for deliveries that never came, to cancel their orders.
Carlos Langoni, a former governor of Brazil’s central bank, said that infrastructure had become a significant constraint on growth. But he also noted that some of the country’s problems are similar to those in other developing economies.
“Expectations were too high,” said Mr. Langoni, who is now the director of the Global Economics Center at the Fundação Getúlio Vargas. “The new emerging countries are no different from the old ones: once you reach a certain income level, it becomes harder to grow.”
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