Knowledge at Wharton

These are volatile times for Brazilian real estate which mirrors the situation in most countries. But according to Elie Horn chairman and CEO of Cyrela Brazil Realty Brazil’s largest developer of residential properties Brazil doesn’t have the deep-rooted problems of the U.S. market. It’s just a matter of lying low for some time until confidence returns he suggests in an interview with Knowledge at Wharton.

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Brazil’s petrochemicals industry has been going through active consolidation a phase that is almost at an end. That process however has seen the creation and growth of Braskem a giant of a firm that is the largest petrochemicals producer not just in Brazil but in all of Latin America. Bernardo Gradin who has been part of Braskem since the company’s formation in 2002 took over in July as its CEO. In an interview with Knowledge at Wharton conducted at the company’s Sao Paulo headquarters Gradin discussed Braskem’s goal of becoming one of the world’s top 10 petrochemical companies as measured by shareholder value.

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Economic crises around the globe have often hit Brazilian banks hard with capital flight hammering the country’s currency the real. But Brazil’s financial institutions seem better positioned to weather the current worldwide credit crunch although lending there is just as frozen as it is elsewhere according to Candido Bracher president and chief executive officer of the São Paulo-based Banco Itaú BBA one of the country’s largest private banks. In an interview with Knowledge at Wharton Bracher discusses how the international market turmoil has affected Brazil and how this differs from the financial crises of the 1990s. He also speaks about what a commodity-price ”hangover” could mean for the country’s economy.

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A government plan to rescue the U.S. automobile industry with $14 billion in emergency loans to General Motors and Chrysler was approved by the House of Representatives late on December 10 but the proposal continued to face stiff opposition from Senate Republicans. While the lifeline loans would give the Detroit automakers some breathing room legislators and auto executives remain under enormous pressure to come up with a plan to resolve the industry’s deep structural and management problems. Wharton faculty and other experts discuss the merits of the bailout proposal and what the potential alternative -- bankruptcy -- could mean.

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For decades sports have existed in a protective bubble. Even in recessions fans could be counted on to keep buying tickets to games and keep beefing up the huge television audiences that draw top dollar from advertisers. But the current recession seems to be bursting the bubble. Says Wharton professor Eric Bradlow: ”Advertising revenue is down. Corporate boxes and corporate sponsorships are going to be down. There’s no question the [financial crisis] is going to affect the economics of the sports industry.”

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Back in the heady days of the real estate boom property prices in New York City soared along with those in the rest of the U.S. When the subprime mortgage crisis hit and prices collapsed the city’s market held out longer than others -- for two reasons. First it is a major financial center with strong demand; and second the weak dollar made it possible for international buyers and investors to find deals at discounts as high as 40%. Where will the New York market be in 2009? Where are the most attractive deals to be found in emerging markets? In a podcast recorded at the Knowledge at Wharton Real Estate Forum on Emerging Markets on December 2 Donald Trump Jr. executive vice president of development and acquisitions at the Trump Organization speaks about those questions and more. He also discusses how he views his unique contribution to expanding the Trump brand overseas building on the foundation laid by his famous father.

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Many shareholder advocates see the financial collapse and resulting economic woes as stunning proof of their long-held claim that too often the wrong people are in charge of top corporations -- and that attacking this problem demands an overhaul in corporate-governance regulations. But not everyone sees governance as the culprit and some warn that a kneejerk attack on established corporate practices could backfire.

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Is the cavalry coming to rescue troubled homeowners? Despite soaring foreclosure rates President Bush and other Republicans have not made this a top priority. But this could soon change: President-elect Barak Obama and fellow Democrats say reducing foreclosures is crucial to attacking the financial crisis. As one expert notes: ”The financial sector weaknesses all originate in the housing market. If we don’t solve the housing problem then the weaknesses in the financial sector are going to continue to multiply.”

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Although companies around the world are clearly feeling the impact of the economic crisis Coca-Cola CEO Muhtar Kent insists that he will remain focused on moving the company toward an ambitious goal: Increasing global annual revenues for the firm and its more than 300 independent bottlers from $650 billion now to more than $1 trillion by 2020. During a recent Wharton Leadership Lecture Kent talked about his three decades in the beverage industry the ”new equilibrium” facing global brands the challenges of dwindling energy supplies and the opportunities he sees in emerging markets among other topics.

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With corporate managers under enormous pressure to control costs and maintain liquidity in the current credit crisis advertising budgets often appear to be a dispensable luxury in the struggle to survive. According to Wharton faculty and marketing experts that attitude can result in short-term gains but long-term trouble.

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