Seth Zalkin, managing partner at Astor Group, talks about his decision to move to Brazil.

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SATURDAY-SUNDAY, AUGUST 13-14, 2011 THE GLOBAL EDITION OF THE NEW YORK TIMES GLOBAL.NYTIMES.COM
What lies ahead as Germany quits nuclear After riots,
British police
attempt to
BERLIN and university professor, at their apart- with enhanced efficiency, can be de- she showed no hesitation in reversing 1950s, weathered protest and terrorism
ment in central Berlin, according to veloped fast enough to replace the lost her original decision of just last autumn in the 1960s and 1970s while giving birth
people who spent many hours debating power from nuclear plants. to prolong the life of Germany’s nuclear to what is now Europe’s most potent
Merkel full of confidence,
deflect blame
the issue with her but spoke only on the The East German scientist who came plants. Now, she has committed Green party, and in the 1980s witnessed
but power industry holds condition that they remain anonymous.
The decision to switch off Germany’s
to politics only after the fall of the Berlin Europe’s largest economy, a leading ex-
porter dependent on keeping industry
fresh civic protest — this time in East
Germany — that felled the Berlin Wall.
doubts on huge gamble nuclear power plants has been widely
Going Its Own Way
competitive, to shutting down the source In the 1990s, Germany shouldered the
portrayed as a sudden U-turn by Mrs. of nearly a quarter of its electric power. huge financial and psychological costs
BY JUDY DEMPSEY Merkel. After the nuclear disaster in Ja- A change of heart In the view of supporters like R. An- of reunification, calmly rebuilt its capit- As lawmakers seethe,
How did Germany, Europe’s economic
pan in March, the German public, long
opposed to nuclear power, was ready to Wall in 1989 seemed to echo some of the
dreas Krämer, director of the Ecologic
Institute, an independent research or-
al in Berlin and retooled foreign policy
not just to reassure Western allies about
Scotland Yard defends
powerhouse, turn its back on nuclear pull the plug, and their chancellor, fervor of those times: Although Ger- ganization in Berlin, this decision ‘‘will reunification but also to support the performance on streets
energy? known for shifting with the prevailing many is not known for tsunamis, or be seen as historic.’’ former Communist countries of the east
Most directly, the decision belonged political winds, complied. strong quakes, she said the risks of a nu- Whether that is so will not be clear for in their zest to join the European Union. BY ALAN COWELL
to Chancellor Angela Merkel. Unlike But those close to Mrs. Merkel de- clear accident were just too enormous years. But it does resonate as one of the The decision to end nuclear power is
other world leaders, she is a trained sci- scribed her change of heart as some- to be controlled by humans. A Japan- large leaps that Germany has a tend- part of this narrative. Almost a week after Britain’s latest con-
entist, with a Ph.D. in physics. thing more like an awakening. Powerful like disaster could happen again, any- ency to make, often surprising its Euro- Norbert Röttgen, the federal environ- vulsion of rioting and looting began with
She reached the momentous decision industrial and energy interests fought where. Safety and security were para- pean and American partners. ment minister, said recently that if his a protest against the police handling of a
to phase out nuclear power by 2022 after the shift, but Mrs. Merkel, her allies say, mount. Since the near-total destruction of 1945, country and its 80 million people could killing in north London, the unrest
discussing it one night over red wine with is ready to lead Germany into a new era In contrast to her excessive caution in Germany has pulled off the Wirtschaft- make the leap to a nuclear-free economy, seemed on Friday to have produced a
her husband, Joachim Sauer, a physicist in which wind and solar energy, along the step-by-step rescue of the euro zone, swunder, or economic miracle, of the GERMANY, PAGE 3 perhaps unlikely spinoff — a sharp dete-
rioration in the relationship between
government leaders claiming credit for
halting the violence and police officers
Economists Brazil leaps ahead as global economy crawls
who called the politicians’ headline-
grabbing intervention irrelevant.
The dispute added a further impon-
warn U.S.
derable to the position of a force still
RIO DE JANEIRO reeling from the resignation last month
of top Scotland Yard officers, including
of the perils
the former commissioner, Sir Paul
South American giant Stephenson, and John Yates, the coun-
luring expat professionals terterrorism chief, in the scandal over
in austerity
phone hacking.
with Wall Street-level pay Now, within weeks, violence that
spread from the down-at-the-heels
BY SIMON ROMERO North London neighborhood of Totten-
WASHINGTON ham to engulf far-flung cities in the
Pondering the financial storms lashing northwest, the English Midlands and
Europe and the United States, Seth Zal- the southwest added one more bleak
Republicans are criticized kin, a casually dressed American entry in a catalog of crisis and condem-
for failing to support banker, sipped a demitasse and seemed
content with his decision to move here
nation that has dogged the British po-
lice for years.
big stimulus measures in March with his wife and son. As the violence took hold and spread
‘‘If the rest of the world is cratering, across the capital, then on to
BY JACKIE CALMES this is a good place to be,’’ said Mr. Zal- Manchester, Liverpool, Birmingham,
kin, 39. Nottingham and Bristol, the police
The boasts of Republicans in the U.S. For those with even the dimmest
Congress about their cost-cutting victo- memories of Brazil’s own debt crisis in
ries are ringing hollow to some well- the 1980s, the global order has been
known economists, financial analysts turned on its head. The American econ-
and corporate leaders, including some omy may be crawling along, but Brazil’s
Republicans, who are expressing in- grew at its fastest clip in more than two
decades last year and unemployment is
N E W S A N A LY S I S at record lows, part of the nation’s trans-
formation from inflationary basket case
creasing alarm about Washington’s new into one of Washington’s top creditors.
austerity. With compensation rivaling that on
Their critiques have grown sharper Wall Street, so many foreign bankers,
since President Barack Obama signed hedge fund managers, oilmen, lawyers MIGUEL MEDINA/AFP
his deficit-reduction deal with Republi- and engineers have moved here that Sir Hugh Orde, the head of the Association
cans this month and, a few days later, prices for prime office space surpassed of Chief Police Officers, dismissed attacks.
when Standard & Poor’s subsequently those in New York this year, making Rio
downgraded the credit rating of the PHOTOGRAPHS BY DANIEL KFOURI FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES the costliest city in the Americas in
United States. Seth Zalkin, an American banker, moved to Brazil in March. ‘‘If the rest of the world is cratering, this is a good place to be,’’ he said. which to lease, according to the real es- faced criticism for standing by, outwit-
But even before that, macroeconom- tate firm Cushman & Wakefield. ted and outmaneuvered, as bands of
ists and private-sector forecasters were A gold-rush mindset is in full swing, masked and hooded marauders looted
warning that the direction in which the with foreign work permits surging 144 stores and torched buildings.
new House Republican majority had percent in the last five years and Amer- The looters themselves seemed bent,
pushed the White House and Congress icans leading the pack of educated pro- too, on rejecting police authority: At one
this year — for immediate spending fessionals putting down stakes. point, in Hackney, a rioter taunted the
cuts, no further stimulus measures and Businessmen have long been drawn police as he built barricades, then
no tax increases, ever — was the wrong to Brazil, along with get-rich-quick con- turned his back on them and lowered his
one for addressing the nation’s two fidence men, dreamers of Amazonian trousers in a universal expression of
main ills, a weak economy now and pro- grandeur, even outlaws like Ronald scorn. One young man in Hackney
jections of unsustainably high federal Biggs, the Briton who absconded here shouted at the officers: ‘‘You know
debt in coming years. after his 1963 ‘‘Great Train Robbery.’’ you’re all racist! You know it.’’
Instead, these critics say, Washington But now schools catering to American But then, on Thursday, after Prime
should be focusing on stimulating the and other English-speaking families Minister David Cameron, London May-
economy in the near term to induce have long waiting lists, three-bedroom or Boris Johnson and Home Secretary
people to spend money and create jobs, apartments can cost $10,000 a month in Theresa May hurried home early from
while, whether through tax cuts or stim- coveted areas, and many of the new- vacation, too late to prevent the nation’s
ulus spending or both, settling on a long- comers hold Ivy League degrees or job streets from spinning out of control,
term plan for spending reductions and experience at the pillars of the global politicians used the platform of an emer-
tax increases to take effect only after economy. gency parliamentary debate to add a
the economy recovers. Once here, they find a country facing third layer of criticism to the police han-
These critics include onetime stan- a set of challenges almost opposite to dling of the worst violence in memory.
dard-bearers of Republican economic those in the United States or Europe: ‘‘There were simply far too few police
philosophy like Martin Feldstein, an ad- growth is so buoyant and the Brazilian deployed on to our streets,’’ Mr. Camer-
viser to President Ronald Reagan, and currency so strong against the dollar on said of the initial days of the riots this
Henry M. Paulson Jr., Treasury secre- that Brazilian officials worry about the week, ‘‘and the tactics they were using
tary to President George W. Bush, under- economy getting too hot. weren’t working.’’
scoring the deepening divide between The trend is helping Brazilians snap A chorus of lawmakers denounced the
party establishment figures and the Tea up apartments in places like South police response to the riots as incompet-
Party-inspired Republicans in Congress Beach, Miami, where properties cost ent. One said that officers were instruc-
and running for the White House. about a third of their equivalents in Rio’s ted to ‘‘stand and observe looting.’’ Mr.
‘‘I think the U.S. has every chance of exclusive districts. But Brazil’s soaring Cameron even went so far as to say that
having a good year next year, but the currency, the real, also hurts the coun- he would look to a U.S. expert for help —
politicians are doing their damnedest to try’s manufacturers and exporters. William J. Bratton, a former police chief
prevent it from happening — the Repub- So in a bid to prevent it from going in New York, Boston and Los Angeles.
licans are — and the Democrats to my even higher, Brazil has become one of Ms. May also took credit for ordering
FISCAL, PAGE 13 Cynthia Yuanxiu Zhang, a manager at a technology company, moved from Beijing a year ago, drawn by the potential for advancement. BRAZIL, PAGE 12 BRITAIN, PAGE 3
CURRENCIES NEW YORK, FRIDAY 1:30PM STOCK INDEXES FRIDAY PAGE TWO WORLD NEWS VIEWS ONLINE
PREVIOUS
— Euro €1= $1.4240 $1.4240 s The Dow 1:30pm 11,288.55 +1.30% The next American frontier? Syrian protesters defy military Paul Krugman Tribe says yes to gay marriage
s Pound £1= $1.6280 $1.6240 s FTSE 100 close 5,320.03 +3.04% As jobs and economic growth become At least 12 protesters were killed by Clearly, the economic crisis that began There were no protests and not much
t Yen $1= ¥76.860 ¥76.830 t Nikkei 225 close 8,963.72 –0.20% scarcer at home, Americans may security forces as tens of thousands of in 2008 is by no means over. This is politics when the Suquamish Tribe
t S. Franc $1= SF0.7710 SF0.7620 someday go abroad in greater Syrians in cities across their country what happens when influential people quietly confronted one of the most
OIL NEW YORK, FRIDAY 1:30PM
Full currenc y rat e s Pag e 14 s Light sweet crude $86.38 +$2.59 numbers, writes Anand Giridharadas. took to the streets Friday in a show of exploit a crisis instead of doing tender social issues of the day. This
defiance against the government of something about solving it. PAGE 7 spring, a young woman asked members
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FOR SUBSCRIPTION INFORMATION, CALL: NEWSSTAND PRICES IN THIS ISSUE BUSINESS President Bashar al-Assad. PAGE 5 at the tribe’s annual meeting to
00800 Brazil R$¤10.0048Czech RepDKr 23100 Germany£¤1.35
44 Denmark CZK 27 3.00
Algeria Din 175
78 Gibraltar Kuwait Fils 150 France ¤ ¤3.00
Moscow Roubles 110 Reunion 3.50 The Netherlands ¤ 3.00 No. 39,943 Breaking Berlin’s mental wall formally approve same-sex marriage.
Andorra ¤ 3.00
Bulgaria 2.55
or e-mail us at 2.200 Ecuador US$ 3.35 Hungary HUF
Cameroon CFA subs@iht.com590
Latvia Ls 2.25 Nigeria NGN 390 Romania Lei 11.50
Northern Ireland £ 1.50 Din 175 SR .13
Algeria Saudi Arabia
Tunisia Din 3.200
Lebanon 4LP 4,000 Art 15 French growth at a standstill Republicans lash out in debate The Cold War barrier between East and The response from the 300 or so people
M 00132 -C$813 - Egypt LE¤14.00 Israel¤NIS 12.10/Eilat NIS 10.40
F: 3,00 2.50
Antilles ¤ 3.00 Lebanon LP 4,000 Turkey TL
Argentina US$ 5.00
Canada 4.50 E Lithuania LTL 15 Norway NkrAndorra ¤Senegal CFA 2.200
28 3.00 Ukraine US$ 5.00
Morocco Dh 22 Books 18 France’s economic growth ground to a A harsh critique of President Barack West divided the German spirit as present was an enthusiastic ‘‘yes’’ in a
3:HIKKLD=WUXUU:?k@i@b@n@a;
Austria ¤ 3.00
Cayman Is CI$ 2.00 Estonia 3.13 Italy Luxembourg ¤ 3.00 Oman OMR 1.250 Serbia Din 220 United Arab Emirates AED 12.00
Antilles ¤ Slovakia ¤ 3.30/SKK 99.50 VenezuelaCFA 2.200
3.00 Senegal US$ 2.75 Business 10 halt in the second quarter, the voice vote. No court fights. No ballot
Bahrain BD 1.2 Chile Ps$ 1,550 Finland ¤ 3.00 Ivory Coast CFA 2.200 Macedonia Den 150.00 Peru US$ 3.50
Obama was overshadowed by incivility well as the German people, something
Belgium ¤3.00 Colombia Cps 1,875 France ¤ 3.00 Jordan. JD 1.350 Malta ¤ 2.50 Poland ZI 12.00
Cameroon CFA Slovenia ¤ 2.200
2.50 Tunisia Din 3.200 Crossword 19
Bermuda US$ 3.50 Costa Rica US$ 2.50 Gabon CFA 2.200 Kazakhstan USD 3.50 Montenegro ¤ 2.00 Portugal ¤ 3.00 Spain ¤ 3.00 United States $ 3.00 government reported Friday, as at a debate between eight Republican even the fall of the wall did not bring to measures. No billionaires behind the
Gabon CFA 2.200 Reunion ¤ 3.50 Sports 8
Bolivia US$ 2.75
Bosnia & Herzegovina KM 5.00
Croatia KN 20.00
Cyprus ¤ 2.90
Great Britain £ 1.50
Greece ¤2.50
Kenya K. SH. 200
Kosovo ¤ 2.50
Morocco Dh 22
Mexico N$ 26.00
Qatar QR 8.00 Sweden Skr 25
Republic of Ivory Coast CFA 2.200
Ireland ¤3.00 Switzerland SFr 4.00
Other US$ 2.00
U.S. Military (Europe) US$ 1.75 Views 6
consumers spent less. PAGE 10 presidential candidates. PAGE 4 an end, writes Peter Schneider. PAGE 6 scenes. global.nytimes.com/us