Few areas of Brazilian business have been quite so competitive in recent years as mobile telecommunications.

By Javier Santiso, professor of economics, ESADE Business School, and director of the ESADE Centre for Global Economy and Geopolitics (ESADEgeo), Barcelona, Spain

On vested interests, the subprime threat and the problems facing small business

Investors still distrust the new government's spending plans. More clarity, especially on funding for the development bank, would help build confidence

With pre-salt bidding threatened by a royalties wrangle, Espirito Santo's Renato Casagrande tells Brazil Confidential that the pressure is on the federal government

Overheating remains the central question for Brazil forecasters: will the authorities cool growth, lending and inflation, or will asset bubbles and current-account deficits become dangerously swollen? Recent data has provided fodder for both sides of the debate.

Our fortnightly look at fund managers' strategies

By Jerome Booth, Head of Research at Ashmore Investment Management Limited in London, UK