There could be a lot that USA ecionomists could learn from Brazil if they want to contribute to a sustainable world. Lula started a consistent paradigm that has not had 10 years to blossom entrepreneurially and sustainably

Before election he championed intergenerational ownership of Brazil's main green assets including water (around Foz, Brazil owns about a third of underground water in the world) and Amazonia. He put a break on short-term policies that were selling off the future of these national assets. He linked in dialogues between world social forums and world economic forums - famously on two occasions he flew overnight from Brazil's Porto Allegro (the home of social forums) to Switzerland's Davos the peak of economics forums. He deserves a lot of credit for Davos starting up social entrepreneur networks and incuding youth entrepreneurs. He also made it clear to leaders that rich nations clubs like the  G8 may have served a historical purpose but they were blocking development of yung nations - if necessary Brazil would start up clubs with nations that wanted to trade openly with it excluding any nation however rich who wanted to conditionalise instead of sustainably trade.

In presidency Lula developed a strategic program to start ending poverty and called for world's leading end poverty practitioners including Yunus to debate Lula on national television. Lula is no longer president but the good news for Brazil is that the new president appears to be building on what Lula started - at least in terms of trying to integrate the most valuable worldwide knowhow into the nation's race to end poverty 
 

SOCIAL  BUSINESS  GOOD  NEWS  FROM  BRAZIL

President Dilma Rousseff interested in bringing Social Business to Brazil

Nobel Laureate Professor Muhammad Yunus met Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff at the Presidential Palace in the capital of Brazil, Brasilia, on 25th of May 2011. The meeting lasted for 90 minutes. During the meeting, Professor Yunus explained how the concept of Social Business can be adopted in Brazil to solve the social problems that afflict Brazilian society. President Rousseff showed a keen interest in Social Business; and she expressed her desire to know more on how this concept can be adopted to Brazil. Towards this, she designated two of her ministers to hold separate meetings with Professor Yunus on 27th May, to work out an action plan on implementing Social Business concepts in Brazil. The President liked the idea of a highly nutritious yogurt for malnourished children and urged Professor Yunus to implement a similar project in Brazil so that the yogurt could be included in the school lunch program for children in Brazil. President Rousseff also announced that she will encourage a leading Brazilian university to set up an Institute of Social Business, with the aim of conducting research into and to teach Social Business to its students. Professor Yunus invited President Rousseff to come to the Global Social Business Summit to be held in Vienna, Austria this November 2011; the President graciously accepted the invitation. President Rousseff appointed a high powered committee to follow up on the meeting with Professor Yunus. The meeting was attended amongst others, by the Brazilian Minister for Health and the Executive Vice-President of Banco do Brazil, the bank which coordinates microfinance programs in Brazil. Professor Yunus was in Brazil for 3 days from the 24th to the 27th to meet with the President, and to attend a conference in Belo Horizonte, in the Southeastern region of Brazil.

we're interested in collecting clues on why america makes banking for startups and entrepreneurial spirit so difficult - eg what clues do you see in this story?

http://www.review.net/section/detail/micro-business-macro-results/

Lending to micro enterprises in the Third World got global attention when Muhammad Yunus of Grameen Bank won the Nobel Peace Price in 2006.

Today, Grameen Bank lends small amounts to millions of poor people in Bangladesh and many other developing countries to start their own businesses despite the fact that they’re not considered creditworthy by traditional banks.

As the recent recession gripped Lee County during the real estate collapse, a group of business executives convened by the Southwest Florida Community Foundation decided to fund a micro-business startup program as a way to help people whose lives had been hurt by the financial disaster.

The foundation provided $85,000 to launch the Southwest Florida MicroEnterprise Project last year, selecting Goodwill Industries of Southwest Florida to run the program.

So far, 69 people have graduated from four 12-week programs that follow a course designed by the Kauffman Foundation for Entrepreneurship. Of those, 25 already were in business when they started the program. Businesses include cleaning, painting, computer repair, bakery, jewelry and child care.

But here’s the challenge: The micro lender that the program selected, Accion USA, hasn’t made any loans to program participants. Like all lenders, Accion has had to tighten its underwriting standards and credit scores now matter. Besides, this isn’t cheap money: interest rates ranged from 8% to 15%.

So Elliott Rittenhouse Jr., Goodwill’s director of microenterprise, is working on a plan to raise $100,000 to lend to these budding entrepreneurs. Rittenhouse’s career spans commercial banking, stock brokerage and restaurant ownership and operation. An avid sailor with a passion for community theater, Rittenhouse also established the Maryland Small Business Development program before moving to Florida last year for lifestyle reasons.

Unlike Goodwill, most economic development groups aren’t equipped to help disadvantaged people. “They’re not able to address the needs of the unemployed or underemployed,” Rittenhouse says.

Already, the project landed a $75,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development through Lee County. Of that sum, $15,000 will be used for grants to aspiring entrepreneurs ranging from $500 to $2,500 each. In addition, State Rep. Gary Aubuchon of Cape Coral, an entrepreneur himself, recently donated $20,000 left over from his campaign funds to the program, Rittenhouse says.

Entrepreneurs seeking such grants will have to demonstrate their willingness to put up their own savings to start their business. “The aspiring entrepreneur needs skin in the game,” Rittenhouse says. “They have to account for every single dollar on a monthly basis.”

Rittenhouse says he’s on a mission to raise $100,000 to lend to micro-enterprises initially, but he says the program needs $300,000 to be effective in lending to the 100 participants the program plans to graduate annually.

Once a loan program is under way for at least a year, it can qualify for up to $500,000 in loans and $250,000 in grants from the U.S. Small Business Administration.

In addition, many banks seek out such loan programs to satisfy requirements to lend to disadvantaged people as mandated by the federal government’s “community reinvestment” laws.

If he’s successful, the community loan pool could expand to neighboring Charlotte and Collier counties. “Nobody does that,” Rittenhouse says.

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PEAK MACRoECONOMICS
A literature review of economics shows that until the second world war it was a discousre aimed at practices investing in youth, advancing next generation and helping people maximise productive lives as a community up process. Then macroecnomics took over- this became an opposite discipline to the origins of economics penned by Adam Smith and his alumni James Wilson who founded The Economist in 1843. We believe that Dr Yunus testimony in congress in fall 2011 is the best chabce for ages to turn round economics across America: to renew is as a community rising quest.  Congressmen explain what they want to understand better in these videos http://www.grameeneconomics.com ; one of Obama's early inauguration speeches described the turnround needed extremely clearly http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GzEajBQ9gmQ

Unless we the people help congress change economics what is mathematically evident is USA will continue to disinvest in youth, and lose its position in the world, or lose the sustainability of the world. chris.macrae@yahoo.co.uk http://normanmacrae.ning.com