Rio de Janeiro, Brazil - While almost every Brazilian is saddened by the stunning loss of their team to the Netherlands in the quarter-final match, economists in Brazil are celebrating unabashedly, claiming that the loss has a decidedly silver lining.
Said one high-ranking economist "We were very worried about Brazil's economy going into the World Cup. When Brazil's team is playing well in the World Cup, our economy takes a nose dive. No one wants to work, everyone wants to stay in front of the television, and the entire country becomes a Sambadrome. Production in Brazil comes to a standstill," he said.
To make matters worse, they say, if Brazil would have won the World Cup, there would be a month-long party to celebrate the victory. Economists say Brazil is not in a stable enough financial condition to sustain itself while the entire country dances its way into poverty.
"It's bad enough," said the economists, "that Brazilians everywhere will be taking a full week off work to mourn the loss. But it's still better than a month's worth of down time had we won."
