The Economist: "Brazil takes off"

China may be leading the world economy out of recession but Brazil is also on a roll.  It did not avoid the downturn, but was among the last in and the first out.  Its economy is growing again at an annualised rate of 5%.  It should pick up more speed over the next few years as big new deep-sea oilfields come on stream, and as Asian countries still hunger for food and minerals from Brazil's vast and bountiful land.  Forecasts vary, but sometime in the decade after 2014—rather sooner than Goldman Sachs envisaged— Brazil is likely to become the world's fifth-largest economy, overtaking Britain and France.  By 2025 São Paulo will be its fifth-wealthiest city, according to PwC, a consultancy.

~ "Brazil takes off: Now the risk for Latin America’s big success story is hubris," The Economist, November 12, 2009