The NYT reports that Brazil anticipates average growth in the range of 3 percent to 4 percent over the decade from 2010-2020, but that a shortage of skilled workers may make this target unobtainable.
While it will obviously be worse for Brazil if it doesn't hit this target than if it does, but it is hardly a very ambitious target for a developing country. According to the CIA Factbook, Brazil has a per capita GDP of $9,700, less than one fourth as high as the United States. Typically, we would expect that developing countries will be closing the gap in income with developing countries, however the 2.5 percent per capita GDP growth rate implied by this target would be only slighter faster than the growth rate anticipated in the United States and other wealthy countries. This would imply very little convergence even if Brazil can achieve its target. By comparison, Argentina's per capita GDP is more than one-third higher and has been growing at close to an 8 percent annual rate over the last five years.
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