Acknowledgments

I thank the many persons whose thoughts entertained and provoked me as I got to know Brazil. The works of many of the published authorities are cited in the text. In particular, I found Austrian novelist Stefan Zweig’s classic, Brazil: A Land of the Future, to be far-seeing and informative.

I was especially lucky in having the support and encouragement of Romualdo Concado, who graciously allowed me to roost in the guest room of his home in Belvedere, Belo Horizonte. He is not only a great host; he is also a well-informed observer of the Brazilian economy. He entertained me with stories about why “Brazil is no country for beginners.” He generously read early drafts of some of the chapters and saved me from embarrassing mistakes. I also thank Cristina Barbosa for her spirit-lifting encouragement and her perspectives on the trials of dealing with Brazilian bureaucracy. I also thank my sometimes co-author, Lord William Rees-Mogg, for his encouragement. And cheers to my personal assistant, Laurie Geller, for braving tottering stacks of notes, books, and drafts to keep me organized in the writing process.

Arthur’s mother, Taciana Davidson, helped set this whole enterprise in motion. I am grateful for the good years we spent together. She welcomed me into her Brazilian family, and went far to educate me on the ways of her country. I also thank my colleague Charles Del Valle for his intelligent comments on early drafts; my agent, Theron Raines, for finding a publisher; Jennifer MacDonald, at John Wiley & Sons, for her unfailing, good humor and constructive edits; and Debra Englander, for thinking I have an important thesis about Brazil and for publishing this book.

I thank Senator Joseph Tydings for providing me with a crucial education in the problem of water deficiency that faces so many countries across the globe. I also thank Donald Trump for taking the time to confirm his good-humored illustration of the logic of double-entry bookkeeping. Bill Bonner and Chris Ruddy are innocent of any faults in this book, but much appreciated for their encouragement. Chris traveled with me to São Paulo and shared his always shrewd observations about the dynamic heart of Brazil’s economy. Thanks.

It has been a chronic drawback of thank-you notes through the ages that they are inadequate, and often, not posted to the right people. In this case, any number of people I have met along the way, both in Brazil and elsewhere, have engaged me in conversations about this dynamic, rising economy. I learned from many of these conversations and thank everyone.

As usual, the responsibility for errors, misjudgments, and dangling prepositions lies with me.