Good point. Brazil has olnly 5% of it's debt in foreign currency. The economy is falling apart, but a default is not expected.

Exactly! A sovereign nation cannot go broke in its own currency. It can always create it at will. The pernicious idea of borrowing in a foreign currency should be recognised as a dangerous move, yet it is always part of the asset stripping policies of the IMF and World Bank in collusion with the established colonial powers.
The general ignorance of economics is behind all these misfortunes as politicians are economically speaking completely uneducated and easily led by those in the know with aims on their resources.

And there has been a shift twards the preference of liquidity and riskless assets widening the risk premia.

Liquidity trap is caused by a change in risk preception and price, and that's what explains the disconnect between stock and bond.

But you have to believe in the keynesian models, and Rogoff doesn't that's why he is so puzzled.

Average 17% doesn't seem that high when compared to the middle class (See, Warren Buffett, Exxon, Walmart); lucky for them we don't have free healthcare. We followed to the letter of the law the Healthcare Plan provided by The Heritage Foundation and put into place by Governor Mitt Romney. Not what I wanted or even most Democrats. Single payer healthcare is the best possible option, particularly in light of the income inequality that we have been saddled with for the last thirty years (minimum wage LESS than in the 70s in real dollars).

No question that FDR turned on his class to create the New Deal and shamed them into going along. After all, they created the First Great Depression. The Second (according to Ben Bernanke) was begun in 2007 and we are still trying to work our way out of it.

No Great Society you say? Again on the heels of a disaster -- the inequality of treatment, opportunity, and social justice brought to us by race hatred. If not the Great Society then what?

Barack Obama won on his own charisma and ideas. If you are harking back to the Dixiecrats coupled with No Great Society, I suspect Mr. Obama would be the least of your worries by now.

About high taxes, the rich care the least, because they can evade easier.

About corporate taxes:
"A corporation may deduct its state and local income tax expense when computing its federal taxable income, generally resulting in a net effective rate of approximately 40%. The effective rate may vary significantly depending on the locality in which a corporation conducts business. The United States also has a parallel alternative minimum tax (AMT) system, which is generally characterized by a lower tax rate (20%) but a broader tax base. "
http://www.kpmg.com/global/en/services/tax/tax-tools-and-resources/pages/corporate-tax-rates-table.aspx

Hmmm...

Free healthcare in USA?

Regarding New Deal and Great Society, check this for the first two: https://vimeo.com/60558495#t=23m16s

Barack Obama is not a policy. When it comes to policies, he is blocked appropriately.