Brazil has a long and colorful history in its economy: in Brazil money has often been scarce. People have survived a tough economy of Brazil throughout the centuries.

Brazil has always depended on its products to strengthen the economy. During its early days in the 15th century, sugarcane was the main product to bring Brazil money for its plantation owners. Slaves were used to provide the labor and the owners reaped the benefits. The prosperity didn’t extend past the wealthy landowners to the rest of the country.

The Portuguese who controlled Brazil at the time didn’t allow for industries that would compete with Portugal. This meant the Brazilian people didn’t have opportunities to make money and enjoy the prosperity from the sugarcane.

Though Brazil has had a series of “gold rushes,” they were small and did not benefit the rest of the economy any more than the sugarcane did. Businesses did not start up in the areas were gold was found because they were often located in remote areas. The gold that was found was a small operation that would not bring fortune to many.

One product that did extend benefits to the economy of Brazil was coffee. It was mainly produced around the Sao Paulo area. The city grew as a result of the coffee boom to become the third largest metropolitan area in the world during the last half of the 19th century.

This growth to the Brazil economy didn’t last due to the long time between planting the trees and harvesting the beans. It would take four years from planting to harvest. Many decisions were based on the price at the time of planting, which could vary greatly by harvest.

Much of Brazil’s economy has been affected by political unrest. Changes in Brazil money have happened to reduce inflation that has often been prevalent in Brazil during times of political uncertainty.

Today, the Braziliancurrency is the real, which has been in use since 1994. It was during the period from 1986 to 1994 that Brazil money changed several times in the attempt to improve the country’s depressed economy. Four variations were created before the real stepped in as the official currency.

Brazil has continued to struggle with inflation in spite of its economic standing with its products. Much of this has been caused by political turmoil.

The most recent president until Dilma Rousseff, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, took office in 2003 and served until 2010. He implemented several changes, but it has taken awhile for the average Brazilian to see the results. In fact, many of the initiatives have only happened in the last few years of his presidency.

Today, the economy of Brazil has improved from previous times even in recent history. Brazil has become one of the leaders in producing bio-fuels. Even though the United States produces ethanol, their consumption is only a small portion of the total population. In Brazil, they produce and use a large quantity of ethanol because it is produced from sugarcane, which is cost-effective to manufacture.

A young labor force that can increase production is also one of Brazil’s resources. The low investment in schools and education is the one thing that could hamper Brazil’s growth. In Brazil money is not focused towards education as it is in North America and much of Western Europe.

Illiteracy is prevalent among much of Brazil, especially away from large cities. Those who do go to school often score low on tests compared to other developing countries. These tests include the basics such as reading and mathematics.

Education has not been a priority for many families in Brazil. Parents do not make their children attend school unless they receive a subsidy that requires school attendance.

This lack of education hurts the work force. Approximately 22% of people old enough to work cannot get jobs because they do not meet the qualifications. Some businesses have trouble hiring enough workers to meet demands.

28% of first graders have to repeat the grade and kids in secondary schools often drop out before they finish. In spite of these statistics, Brazil’s education system has improved in recent years. 180 vocational schools have been opened since the last president was elected.

There is also a new test that is administered to evaluate the performance of students. The government has also created a scholarship program to aid low income students so they can attend private colleges.

One of the problems with the education system is how the money is being used. Half of the budget goes to pensions for retired teachers and another ten percent goes towards kids who have to repeat a grade. Some students are as old as twenty-five years of age when they graduate from secondary school.

Lack of the quality of education is another problem with schools. Teachers can be absent from school for 40 of the 200 days in the school year without having their pay suffer. The teachers are often poorly educated and are unable to help students excel.

On the plus side, school attendance rates are improving and the number of kids graduating has increased to 47%. Businesses have gotten involved and are training some workers basic reading and math skills so they can be hired. According to the education minister of Brazil, Dr. Haddad, Brazil is improving faster than many of the other developing countries. They may be playing catch-up, but they are taking education more seriously than in past years.

While the economy of Brazil has greatly improved, there is still a long way to go to bring them up to the level of their competitors. To improve the quality of life in Brazil money will have to be spent on education for the masses.

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To understand the unique Brazil economy, it is helpful to look at the history of the country and the reasons why the economy developed as it did.

Brazil commands the 5th largest geographical area of any country in the world and is the largest country within the continent of South America. Within Brazil reside 190 to 200 million people, the majority of whom are poverty stricken and illiterate.

In recent times the Brazilian economy has been growing even while other nations are still in the grips of a worldwide recession. Brazil has been expanding their overseas investments and moving into a new era of economic visibility on the world stage.

What is the GDP? It is the total amount, in U.S. dollars; of the services and goods a country produces. The economic health of any country is determined first and foremost by its GDP.

The gross domestic product influences the way businesses conduct purchases and hiring, government spending, and even influences retail sales. Translating the GDP, or purchasing power, of the Brazil economy into U.S. dollars comes to about 2 trillion.

The first settlers to Brazil were a diverse group from many different countries. Millions of slaves from Africa were brought to Brazil to work for the elite until 1888 when slavery was finally abolished.

At that time, land was held firmly by the rich or elite of the country, leaving no land to the slaves or poorer people. Those who could go went to the bigger cities of Brazil looking for work and opportunities.

The ones left behind learned to live on public land and built favelas, or slum cities in which to reside. The poor people of Brazil were mostly illiterate then and still are much that way today.

Over the years, Brazil has seen an increase in several areas of industry, but the economic gap between the rich and the poor of Brazil is still huge.

In the latter half of the 20th century, Brazil developed rampant inflation, that began in the 1950's when the government printed money to fund the new capital of Brazil, Brasilia.

By the 1980's, inflation was completely out of control, at times as high as 80% a month!

The government would make unsuccessful attempts to freeze prices or even bank accounts. Each administration failed, and Brazilians became less and less trusting of their government and their currency.

Imagine going to the supermarket and seeing the prices change every day, and climbing up so high that within a month you couldn't afford a loaf of bread!!

I experienced this first hand when I was there. Each time I went to trocar dineiro or change my U.S. dollars into Cruzeiros, the amounts would be different!

People felt the government could not control inflation and the prices were meaningless. They felt their currency had no value.

In 1992 the government was completely desperate and tried a very unique method to control inflation by slowing down the creation of money, and also boosting faith in the value of their currency.

They created a new virtual currency called the "URV", or unit of real value which was kept stable, even while inflation in the rest of the country was still out of control.

The URV didn't actually exist, and people still used their usual currency of Cruzeiros ... but all prices, taxes and currency amounts were listed in URV's.

This idea was designed to help people to think differently about their money.

By "thinking" in URV's rather than in the rapidly changing Cruzeiros, people began to experience a stable currency, and the hope was that people would stop expecting prices to go up.

On July 1, 1994 the Brazilian government phased out their old, inflating currency and created the Real. The transition took less than 6 months.

In recent times, 20 million Brazilians have risen out of poverty and Brazil became a major exporter. Several Brazilian banks are among the top ten issuers of credit cards worldwide.

Brazilians now have the option to finance their purchases with installment plans. Since Lula's election in 2002, Brazil has seen some growth in their GDP.

Still, the economy has a ways to go. Despite many significant and groundbreaking efforts by Brazil's most recent President, affectionately called Lula, poverty is still widespread in Brazil, and there is still quite a large gap between rich and poor.

Some say that wealth inequality has increased since Brazil's economy began to grow, however others say that this gap is lessening.

Wealth redistribution programs such as Fome Zero and Bolsa Familia have helped to bring relief to many in poverty, and to help them to create a more prosperous life with incentive programs, however there are still many challenges to be overcome.

Brazil has made a concerted effort to invest half of their education budget toward elementary schools and high schools. The other half was put toward colleges and universities.

The result? Brazil offers world-renowned universities to those who can afford them. Yet, 80% of the workers in Brazil remain illiterate and don't even have a high school diploma.

Imagine the frustration of a manager or executive who is trying to run a business with workers who cannot understand the instructions given to them. It is frustrating and demeaning for the workers as well.

Today, the Brazil economy is still severely unequal. The rich of Brazil make 23 times more money than the poor of the country. The land of Brazil is held and controlled by less than 2% of the country's population.

Visiting Brazil, it isn't unusual to see a millionaire's mansion built right next to a favela, or slum, with a wall between them so the rich don't have to see the poor living in below poverty conditions.

Brazil's economy cannot be truly healthy until the issue of illiteracy and land ownership is addressed.

If a more equal distribution of land resources could be made available to those less fortunate than Brazil's elite, this would allow Brazil to benefit from the enormously abundant resources of creativity and innovation that her people have.

The basic skill of reading and education could be made available to all, regardless of their social status. When this happens, the financial and social gap between the rich and the poor of Brazil can truly be bridged.

The economy of Brazil and her people would naturally see a boost as a result of more people being empowered with the knowledge and resources to make their own unique contributions to the world.

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