Luxury goods become bargains in Brazil as real plunges

Sao Paolo

CARTIER and Louis Vuitton, those global symbols of opulence, suddenly look like bargains in one of the world's economic trouble spots: Brazil.

Because of a plunge in the value of Brazil's currency, the real, many marquee-name luxury products are now cheaper in Sao Paolo than they are in New York.

Not that many ordinary Brazilians can afford the bobbles. At Cidade Jardim, an open-air mall with views of Sao Paolo's business districts, a Cartier Tank Anglaise watch, in gold and steel, costs 32,700 reais (S$13,210), the equivalent of US$9,326. On …