American exceptionalismo

Lula da Silva, BusinessWeek:

When a major company wants to make an investment in Brazil, [we have discussions] about what region would be [appropriate for] the investment. Why? So we can encourage regional development. That's the role of the government. I think we learned a lesson from the global crisis. Remember when oil went to $150 a barrel. Soy beans also went up. There was a commodity bubble. That was investors getting out of the subprime market and rushing to the futures markets for food and oil. Otherwise, there is no explanation for oil going from $30 up to $150 in such a short time. We cannot allow this kind of speculation because this harms the poorest people in the world. It brings damage to job creation. We want the welfare of society to grow together with the economy. Otherwise, the economy grows for only half a dozen people.

 I don't know, dude.  It seems like such a foreign concept!