Sources: FT: Brazil resolute on rate rises to calm inflation WSJ: Price of Success in Brazil: $15 Movies IMF: Watching Out for Overheating in Latin America CIA: World Fact Book, GDP Real Growth Rate Over the past few years, Brazil’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) has steadily increased, going from 3.70% in 2006, to 5.10% in 2008, and reaching 7.50% in 2010, making Brazil’s economy one of the most stable, and the country itself one of the wealthiest in South America and the western hemisphere. However, this success has not come without a price, as Brazil’s cities have become some of the most expensive in the world. The Wall Street Journal reported that Brazilians pay the equivalent of $15 for a movie, which is more than New Yorkers pay. Likewise, the jump in the price of food, transportation, and land has resulted in the inability of millions of poor Brazilians to maintain their standard of living as their income remains unchanged but the price of items continue to rise. One reaso...
The results of PFStock's latest income survey are in. For a while now, I've had an annual income poll in the sidebar of PFStock that asks readers to respond to the question: "How much do you make?" In total, there were 85 responses to this poll. So, here are the latest poll results: How Much Do You Make (April 2011 Results) Annual Income % of PFStock Readers less than $50k 8% $50k-$99k 25% $100k-$149k 27% $150k-$199k 11% $200k-$249k 8% $250k and higher 18% Note that the percentages do not add up to 100% due to rounding. From these statistics, I found it interesting that a large percentage of my readers fall into the higher income categories. More than 60% of PFStock readers have an income greater than $100,000 per year. Does anybody have a comment on this statement? The last time that I published annual income survey results was in my July 2010 post on the topic. I also found similar results then. Because the 2011 and 2010 surveys covered different income r...
Here are the latest money market interest rates of the banks that I've been tracking on my blog. Note that these rates are sorted by APY, and represent institutions that I have accounts at, or have otherwise mentioned in my blog: 1.15% Discover Bank Online Savings 1.00% Ally Bank Online Savings 1.00% Urban Partnership Bank** (fmr Shorebank) Online Savings 1.00% ING Direct Orange Savings 0.90% HSBC Advance Online Savings 0.65% Western FCU Money Market 0.30% E*TRADE Complete Savings 0.20% Citibank Ultimate Savings 0.15% Chase Plus Savings 0.07% PayPal Money Market* NOTES: *The PayPal Money Market fund is NOT FDIC insured. **On August 20, 2010, ShoreBank was closed by regulators, and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) was named Receiver. Accounts were transferred to Urban Partnership Bank of Chicago. The FDIC has issued a press release regarding this matter. Rates are believed to be accurate as of 4/25/11. I did not include banks that had special, or introductory...
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