Read an interesting article the other night about how the President of Brazil, Lula, is looking to make changes in the savings system in Brazil so that larger investors can actually receive a higher interest rate on direct bank savings accounts. This is being investigated so as to provide an attractive risk-free alternative to government bonds, as interest rates fall in the country. Current interest income in savings account in Brazil is a little more than 6%. The full article (in Portuguese) is available here.

Interesting how a supposed third-world country, has a better sense of economic reality that the US. As opposed to Brazil’s desire to help savers, the Fed and Treasury in the US, are attempting to destroy savings, and encourage rampant speculation, by giving virtually no interest on bank savings accounts and by printing unlimited amounts of money. Make sense?

Incidentally, Lula had an interesting comment when the crisis first started nearly two years ago. He wondered why Brazil was struggling to get investment grade status, and the US was still considered investment grade. Brazil he said has a huge current account surplus, and the US is up to its eyeballs in debt (and now drowning in debt). Which country sounds like the better credit, he wondered? The problem, of course, is that the rating agencies are owned by the US.