'You need to think of Brazil as a nation,' says Bresser-Pereira.

From the South 21 - According to the former minister, countries like England, the United States, and Japan are interested in occupying our domestic market. "This process occurs through multinational corporations and loans."

The auditorium of the Faculty of Economic Sciences at the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS) was completely packed last night (1st) to attend the lecture by former Finance Minister Luiz Carlos Bresser-Pereira. Beforehand, the book Rowing Against the Tide: Development and Industrial Policy in RS (2011-2014), organized by professors Carlos Henrique Horn, Junico Antunes, Ivan de Pellegrin and Ibes Eron Alves Vaz, was launched. The work brings together 34 authors and the autograph session took place during the Porto Alegre Book Fair.

With the theme "Where to grow: development, industrial policy and the role of States," Bresser-Pereira, professor emeritus at the Getúlio Vargas Foundation (FGV) and creator of the Journal of Political Economy, initially addressed the global economic scenario before focusing on the Brazilian crisis. According to him, globalization and neoliberalism have been facing a crisis since 2007.

Back in 2016, the economist assessed, the political crisis of neoliberalism "exploded," resulting, for example, in Brexit – the United Kingdom's exit from the European Union – and the victory of businessman Donald Trump in the United States presidential election. "There is a political crisis of neoliberalism and globalization coupled with an economic crisis," observed the former minister, who has experience in both the public and private sectors.

In Brazil, he emphasized, the economic crisis will not be resolved as long as the government maintains a "highly appreciated" exchange rate and "highly scandalous" interest rates. These two factors, according to his assessment, inhibit the rate of profits and investments in the country. The Workers' Party governments, in the economist's opinion, did not address these issues, despite an unsuccessful attempt by former President Dilma Rousseff to manipulate the exchange rate and interest rates.

"What the PT did was to give preference to workers and the poor," added Bresser-Pereira, an enthusiast of a developmentalist project. In 2015, the country entered a recession, according to the professor, due to the halving of commodity prices, especially soybeans and iron ore, but mainly due to the financial crisis.

This crisis particularly affected industries, which began to accumulate debt starting in 2007. The country's economic situation, stated Bresser-Pereira, only worsened with the "violent fiscal adjustment" adopted by the then Minister of Finance, Joaquim Levy, whom the economist confessed to initially supporting but soon regretted due to the economic policy adopted. "It's a government that has worked strongly against Brazil in the name of economic neoliberalism," criticized the professor, referring to the country's successive governments. Brazilians, according to the speaker, have difficulty making sacrifices. "They don't want a competitive exchange rate. That's a sacrifice!" exemplified the former minister.

Countries like England, the United States, and Japan, the economist emphasized, are interested in "occupying our domestic market." According to him, this process occurs through multinational corporations and loans. At the end of the lecture, the former minister left a message: "You need to think of Brazil as a nation, abandoning the strong preference for immediate consumption," he concluded, to much applause from the audience that gathered, including in the corridor of the auditorium of the Faculty of Economic Sciences.