The spending and saving habits of Brazil’s rich and poor

In an interview with newspaper Folha de S.Paulo last Sunday, Economy Minister Paulo Guedes heaped praise on his own economic plans and said he’d encourage the habit of saving among the poor in order to fund their retirement plans. “A boy, early on, knows he’s a responsible human when he has to save money. The rich capitalize their resources, the poor consume it all,” he said, dismissing soon thereafter a question about whether a poor person is able to save money.

Last Monday, the same newspaper ran an editorial praising Mr. Guedes for working “in the right direction,” but Mr. Guedes was left red-faced two...