Brazilian firms emerge from the gloom

Topics
Brazil, Temer, Economy, Recovery, Politics.

Objectives
Discuss the article on the current economic situation in Brazil and the expectations for a
recovery. English grammar Other vs. Another. Expand vocabulary - 44 new words.

A) Vocabulary

Stir (v) Sluggish Tally Survey

Rebound (v) Forecast Mired Alike

Tackle (v) Run up Plummet (v) Deputy

Shindig Drop (v) Narrow (v) Cripple (v)

Left-wing Offset (v) Sapping Meddling

Mood Swing Rigid Fed up Bugbear

Strengthen (v) Gush (v) Lavish (v) Grumbles

Thrive (v) Ease (v) Rectitude Shoddy

Rely on (v) Red Tape Abhor (v) Gripes

Urge (v) Undertake (v) Reckon (v) Outsourcing

Overhaul (v) Sacrosanct Loth Stumble (v)

B) English Grammar Other vs. Another (via Grammar.cl).

What is the difference between another and other?

A simple rule to help you remember the difference between another and other is:
another + singular noun
other + plural noun
others (a pronoun to replace other + plural noun)
• I need another cup. (cup is singular so we use another)
• I need other cups. (cup is plural so we use other)
• I need others. (refers to other cups)

When to use ANOTHER

Another means:
• one more, an additional, an extra
• a different one; an alternative one
Another is a determiner (and a qualifier) that goes before a singular countable noun or
a pronoun.

Another + Singular Countable noun

Another can be followed by a singular countable noun.
• He has bought another motorbike.
• Would you like another cup of coffee?
• Don’t worry about the rain. We can go another day.
• I think you should paint it another color.
• We are having another baby.

Another + One
Another can be placed before “one” when the meaning is clear from the text before it.
• I have already eaten two sandwiches though now I want another one. (= an
additional sandwich)
• A: You can borrow more of these books if you like. B: Ok, I’ll take another one.
(= another book, one more book)

Another as a pronoun
Sometimes another is used as a pronoun.
• That piece of cake was tasty. I think I’ll have another. (another = one more piece
of cake)
• I don’t like this room. Let’s ask for another. (another = another room)
Note: you can also say: “I think I’ll have another one.” and “Let’s ask for another one.”

Another + number + plural noun

Another can be used before a plural noun when there is a number before that noun or
before phrases such as a couple of, a few etc.
• In another 20 years my laptop is going to be obsolete.
• I like this city so much that I’m going to spend another three days here.



• He was given another couple of months to finish the sculpture.

Remember another is ONE word not two words (an other is incorrect)

When to use OTHER

Other is a determiner that goes before plural countable nouns, uncountable nouns or a
pronoun.
Other + Plural Countable Noun
Other can be followed by a plural countable noun.
• We have other styles if you are interested.
• Have you got any other dresses, or are these the only ones?
• Some days are sunny though other days can be very rainy.
• I have invited some other people.
• I can’t help you because I’m busy with other things.

Other + Ones
Other can be placed before the pronoun “ones” when the meaning is clear from the
text before it.
• We don’t need those books, we need other ones. (= different books)
• A: You can borrow my books if you like. B: Thanks, but I need other ones. (=
other books)
Note: you can say other one when it refers to wanting the alternative.
• I don't want this one, I want the other one.

Others as a pronoun
Others replaces “other ones” or "other + plural noun".
Only others can be used as a pronoun and not other.
• I don’t like these postcards. Let’s ask for others. (others = other postcards)
• Some of the presidents arrived on Monday. Others arrived the following day.
Others - the others
Often “(the) others” refers to “(the) other people”.
• He has no interest in helping others. (= in helping other people)
• What are the others doing tonight?

What is the difference between other and others?

Other is followed by a noun or a pronoun
Others is a pronoun and is NOT followed by a noun.
• These shoes are too small. Do you have any other shoes?
• These shoes are too small. Do you have any others? (no noun after others)
C) Read Text

Brazilian firms emerge from the gloom

With a stand-in leader a little optimism returns
Oct 29th 2016

“BRAZIL is back in business,” proclaimed Abílio

Diniz, chairman of BRF, a Brazilian pork and poultry
giant, at a recent investor shindig. Really? The
economy, mired in recession since mid-2014, is
not expected to stir before the end of the year—
and then only sluggishly. After rebounding in the
first half of 2016, industrial production plummeted
again in August. Retail sales fell by more than
forecast. Firms expect to hire just 100,000
temporary workers in the run-up to Christmas, 3%
fewer than last year’s already low tally. BRF’s own
domestic operations are hardly a picture of health.
Sales dropped by 5% in the second quarter, year
on year (though this was offset by rising global
revenues).

For all that, Mr Diniz is not alone in his optimism. Surveys point to rising confidence
among bosses and consumers alike (see chart). Investors’ spirits are up—and with them
the São Paulo stockmarket, which has returned to levels last seen in 2012. The real has
strengthened by a third against the dollar since January.

The collective mood swing has less to do with the real economy, and more with
realpolitik. In August the left-wing president, Dilma Rousseff, was impeached, ending
months of uncertainty. Her pragmatic deputy, Michel Temer, will serve out the
remaining 26 months off her term.

Brazil Inc wasn’t always anti-Rousseff. When she came to office in 2011 and lavished
cheap credit and tax breaks on firms, bosses did not complain. They rebelled when her
constant meddling first distorted, then crippled, the economy.

The Temer government looks both more fiscally responsible than its predecessor, and
more responsive to businesses’ concerns. Bosses gush about easy access to ministers,
even the president himself. They applaud the administration’s commitment to narrow
the confidence-sapping budget deficit, which exploded to 10% of GDP on Ms
Rousseff’s watch. Mr Diniz’s remarks came after Mr Temer’s proposed constitutional
amendment to freeze government expenditures in real terms for 20 years handily
cleared the first of four congressional votes. It passed the second on October 25th. A
complementary reform to over-generous public pensions is in the works.

A promise of fiscal rectitude has helped dampen inflation expectations, allowing the
central bank to cut interest rates for the first time in four years on October 19th, from
14.25% to 14%. Further cuts to Brazil’s high rates—the number-one bugbear of many a
Brazilian boss—are expected. So too are other market-friendly measures, such as
easing onerous local-content requirements for some industries and enlisting the private
sector to build and run roads, ports and airports.

Still, notes Carlos de Freitas of the National Confederation of Commerce, a lobby

group, “The real economy does not live on expectations alone”. For business to
thrive, bosses never tire of repeating, Brazil must also tackle assorted structural
deficiencies. Besides costly credit, perennial grumbles include shoddy infrastructure,
unskilled workers, convoluted taxes, rigid labour laws and Byzantine bureaucracy.

Some take matters into their own hands. Daimler, a German carmaker, teaches English
to technicians so that they can read technical manuals. Fed up with waiting for Rio de
Janeiro’s municipal government to build a promised access road to its research centre,
General Electric paid for it to be paved. Singaporean shareholders of Aegea, a water
utility, could not understand why a firm with revenues of 795m reais needed a private
jet—until Hamilton Amadeo, its boss, showed them it was cheaper than relying on
commercial flights and cars once the cost of executives’ lost time was added in.

Most companies cannot afford language classes, let alone jets. All abhor red tape. In
the office of Guilherme Afif, chairman of SEBRAE, a group for small businesses, a
printout of all the rules even tiny firms must obey takes up fully five metres of shelf
space. The average Brazilian corporation spends 2,600 man-hours annually complying
with the tax code, ten times the global figure (see article).

For decades, fixing these gripes has eluded even popular presidents. Mr Temer isn’t
one, at least outside business circles. Some bosses urge him to undertake tough, early
action. Others reckon that an all-out assault on workers’ rights or states’ tax-raising
powers do not behove a president who lacks the legitimacy of an elected leader.
Better to stick with emergency fiscal measures and leave deeper reforms to his
successor. Many would be content with stop-gaps: a law to make outsourcing easier,
say, rather than an overhaul of the sacrosanct labour code dating back to 1943.
In the meantime, euphoria over Ms Rousseff’s exit is tempered with caution. A tractor-
maker in the southern state of Santa Catarina could use an extra 50 staff, its boss
admits. But he is loth to hire, lest Mr Temer stumbles and confidence evaporates. “We
are hoping for the best,” echoes the boss of a big education provider who has also
ordered a hiring freeze. “But we are planning for the worst.”