VZCZCXYZ0015
OO RUEHWEB

DE RUEHSO #0142 0722118
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 132118Z MAR 09
FM AMCONSUL SAO PAULO
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 9012
INFO RHEHNSC/NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL WASHDC IMMEDIATE
RUEHBR/AMEMBASSY BRASILIA PRIORITY 0162
RUEHRI/AMCONSUL RIO DE JANEIRO PRIORITY 9059

UNCLAS SAO PAULO 000142 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE INR/R/MR; IIP/R/MR; WHA/PD 
 
DEPT PASS USTR 
 
USDOC 4322/MAC/OLAC/JAFEE 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: KMDR OPRC OIIP XM XR XF BR
SUBJECT: Media Reaction Sao Paulo; March 13- 2009 
 
Media Reaction - Global Economy: Financial market crisis; Sao Paulo 
March 13, 2009 
 
Title: The G spot and the Zero Spot 
 
Op-Ed in liberal Folha de S. Paulo (3-13) by Brazil's former 
president and current head of the Brazilian Federal Senate Jose 
Sarney states: "....In economics, in times of crisis the G spot is 
the time when interest rates equal zero....the current crisis is 
contradicting and making inefficient many of the economic 
instruments that once were believed to be miraculous and able to 
revert expectancies and disasters....almost all countries interest 
rates are now close to zero.  What happens is that the once heroic 
medicine does not take effect anymore?  Economists are working on a 
new thesis now: that in times of crisis, as the one we are going 
through right now, nothing works....Our solution is to try to break 
the resistance in investing in our domestic market to create jobs 
because the worst, in all crises, is not the banks that collapse, 
but the millions of people that lose their jobs and enter the tragic 
world of poverty, misery and hunger." 
(Note: PA Sao Paulo is aware that G spot is a vulgar reference but 
it is consistent with statements made by President Lula in the 
past.) 
 
Title: A Dim Scenario 
 
Editorial in center-right O Estado de S. Paulo (3-13) states: 
"....The capital flow to emerging markets in 2009 will be the lowest 
since the beginning of the decade.  Without foreign investment and 
needed financing, these countries will invest little in 
infrastructure or in the social protection network, and this will 
have a strong effect on their capacity to grow....The rebound of the 
world economy could improve the situation but this still seems very 
distant.  The World Bank estimates that 2009 will be the worst year 
for the global economy since the end of the World War II." 
WHITE