BRAZIL is not the only emerging economy facing headwinds (see article in this week’s print edition). But it is looking particularly wonky. Having narrowly won a second presidential term on October 26th, this week Dilma Rousseff returned from a spot of post-election R&R to a raft of bad news. The trade deficit widened to $1.1 billion in October, the highest-ever for the month. It now stands at $1.8 billion so far this year. Both imports and exports fell, pointing to weak activity. An expected uptick in September’s industrial production turned out instead to have been a dip; it has now shrunk for five straight quarters.
Mais