Economic recovery starting from the elimination of state debt.

In this iconoclastic environment that Brazil has become, partly justified by the incriminating terror spread by media propaganda from the Mensalão scandal to the most recent scandals at Petrobras, it is common for people to say that all politicians, all parliamentarians, all senators, all deputies are corrupt. Of course, this is an exaggeration. I know dozens of parliamentarians. I suspect some. Even those few strive to defend some public interest because, otherwise, they wouldn't be re-elected.

Corruption exists in every corporation. Football clubs are a prime example. Eventually, some manager is expelled as a thief. Even within the football hierarchy, as seen in the FIFA case, corruption can be rampant. Yet, no one would imagine abolishing FIFA. It's useful for the spread of football worldwide. When wrongdoing is detected, the police intervene, clean up the mess, and move on. The same should happen with politics. Corruption cases should be handed over to the police and prosecutors, end of story.

I say all this to conclude that if the overwhelming majority of senators were corrupt, I would stop writing right here. Because the future of the Republic depends on our senators. I believe that, acting on the crucial issue that will determine the relations between the Union and the States for the next few years and decades – that is, the relationship between the Union and the States regarding state public debts to the Federal Government – ​​the vast majority of them will act with genuine political awareness, and not in strictly self-interest.

Governors act either in the public interest or in their own self-interest. Some fall somewhere in between. To separate the wheat from the chaff, let's say that those who act in their own self-interest – for example, by taking bribes for public works – have to carry out some work or pay for some service to receive their commission. The premise is logical. They need to carry out works and provide services, otherwise they won't be able to inflate prices, the source of the bribes. However, during Meirelles's time, there's a problem: where to get the money to pay for the works?

The fact is that this Federal Government doesn't even cater to the interests of the corrupt. It's true that it can release some parliamentary amendments and distribute some positions. This is insufficient to generate bribes on the scale demanded by a truly corrupt individual. And it's especially insufficient for senators and other parliamentarians who intend to run for governor in the next election. They will be in the environment of Amendment 55/241, which they voted for somewhat unconsciously without realizing that it will also freeze their spending from 18 onwards.

Let us now consider the far more likely scenario that most senators and state governors are honest and sincerely want the public good because they aspire to new elected positions. In the context of Temer/Meirelles' economic policy, they are simply finished. The government's explicit program is to strangle public investment at all levels and cut spending on essential public services like health, education, and security to the bone – the latter only remembered when there are prison riots and massacres.

Let us now consider the universe of senators and governors, the many honest ones and the few dishonest ones. Would there be any common interest among them? Of course, they all want more public works and services, and among those who want more services, many will want better services. Is there any way to reconcile these interests? Obviously there is. It is the Senate's approval of the draft resolution that Senator Roberto Requião intends to present, in a supra-partisan manner, at the very beginning of the next legislature, recognizing the nullity of the states' public debt to the Union.

In previous articles, I have shown the grounds for declaring this debt null and void, a debt that is virtually strangling the states. This opinion is also shared by the greatest Brazilian economist currently working, Luís Gonzaga Belluzzo. I will give some of its quantitative aspects, taking advantage of the calculations of the valiant Maria Lúcia Fatorelli. When it was "created," the debt, updated, was R$ 111,18 billion. R$ 277 billion was paid by the states. An insulting R$ 476 billion remains to be paid. Adding the amount unduly paid to the "outstanding" amounts to be paid, there would be R$ 753 billion available for the governors.

It is clear that, if they carefully weigh their interests, senators and governors will think twice before embarking on Meirelles' contractionary project. He has very little to offer, other than crumbs of amendments and positions, compared to what he can provide as an alternative power structure to be articulated. So that people are not alarmed by the figures, there will be no unbearable burden for the Union in repaying what was unduly paid of the debt. In fact, this phased repayment should be part of a Keynesian program for the resumption of Brazilian development, along the terms we will propose in the next article.