“This was a crisis that was fostered and boosted by the irrational behavior of people who were white and blue-eyed, who before the crisis they looked like they knew everything about economics, but now have demonstrated they know nothing about economics,” he said, mocking the “gods of wisdom” who had had to be bailed out. “The part of humanity that is responsible should be the part that pays for the crisis,” he added.Brown was reportedly “mildly uncomfortable” at Lula’s comments.
The Brazilian leader also spoke out on the multimillion dollar bailouts of banks by Britain and the U.S. Lula also remarked on other issues like immigration and noted how “prejudice is a factor against immigrants in the most developed countries."
(My quick take – though they were a poor choice of words it’s important to figure out how the economic crisis emerged so as not to repeat it. Lula’s comments on immigration were spot-on and highlight the sometimes poisonous nature of the immigration debate in the U.S. and Europe).
Online Sources- YouTube, Guardian UK, ABC Online, Times Online
