Counting in dollars, prices in Brazil increased during the last couple of years, mainly because the exchange rate is now 1.6 to1 from 3 to1. For instance, a couple of years ago with US$ 3000 I would had R$9000 now just R$4800. We felt the pinch. I found pre-paid cell phones very expensive per minute. I couldn’t buy my domestic flights during promotion period, so I paid expensive tickets too. But, in general prices are cheaper relatively to Europe. In our way back to UAE we had a stop over in Paris (fantastic Paris, cannot buy a house there, but I’ll pay my tributes by buying a Citroen…), for what I paid for a simple meal (ribeye steak, salad, fries) I could get a fabulous meal in Brazil, including dessert, drinks and a fat tip.
Alcohol is a good fuel alternative, it is not even better because the government isn’t selling gasoline for its true higher market value (opportunity cost of selling abroad). It’s a commodity, so has cycles. Recently there is an article on it at:
Biofuels: the sweet smell of power - Telegraph
But I think the best one is this one:
Biofuels in Brazil | Lean, green and not mean | Economist.com

But let me add that prices are increasing everywhere. Here in the UAE, beef prices (from Australia, NZ and Brazil) almost doubled, newspapers are quoting 30% prices increase in basic food (rice,…). Almost everything related to food increased, I can tell that before the trip I paid 11 dirhams for 1 kg of fertilizer for my garden, now it is 27! Just an example.