Brazil, the country that will always have a great future

Felix Salmon writes about why Brazil is not a good place for a young American to make his fortune.

Brazil is run by a very small group of elite families concentrated within the richest enclaves of Sao Paulo and Rio. Brazil doesn't have its own domestic equivalent of the American Dream - the meritocratic idea that anybody can make it, with enough moxie and a bit of luck. It's true that a large middle class is emerging, and that many people are making much more money now than they were ten years ago. It's also true that Brazil, as a nation, is very entrepeneurial. But the fact is that the biggest entrepeneurs come entirely from the white elite; they've known each other all their lives, trust each other, employ each others' offspring, and see no reason to take a punt on some American 22-year-old kid, even if he or she happens to be fluent in Portugese.

Brazil doesn't embrace foreigners. Its companies are much less likely to be foreign-owned than those of just about any other country in Latin America, and its executives are a very homogenous bunch. In a country justly celebrated for racial and ethnic diversity, everybody with any real power is white; certainly they're all Brazilian. While no one batted an eyelid at a first-generation immigrant like Sergey Brin making billions in America, that wouldn't be possible in Brazil.

This is a problem with many emerging markets, not just Brazil. Developed nations like Canada, Switzerland, or the UK are, like the US, proud to be home to big and vibrant companies staffed, run, and even founded by foreigners. Of how many developing nations can that be said?

Interesting here is the mixture of truth, falsehood, and obtuseness. Salmon even uses the word "vibrant" with a straight face, as if that's a good thing. Also that "justly celebrated for racial and ethnic diversity" carries lots of ideological baggage. Who's celebrating? Brazil is a mess, with ethnic conflict and high crime, which would be just another Third World nation absent the commodity boom.

And can we please lay the example of Sergey Brin to rest? His name seems to come up every time immigration is discussed. He came to the U.S. as a child, and was raised here, so the fact of his success and America's fortune in having him - if it is indeed fortune - is strictly due to chance, not to policy or because immigration is so great. He's a fluke.

As for Brazil, if it didn't have those whites running the show, where would it be? Brazil remains a better country to immigrate to than, say, Zimbabwe, but worse than say, Australia or Singapore. Hmmm, wonder what causative factor is at work?

Yes, the U.S. is home to a number of companies in which foreigners are prominent, but not only are their numbers vastly exaggerated, but most immigrants never do anything so dramatic as start a company. Most are cab drivers, tree trimmers, and the like.