Dirceu criticizes attack on economic policy.

247 - Back to writing in your blogFollowing a period of recess, former Chief of Staff José Dirceu, in an article published this Monday, the 7th, attacked the recent press attacks on the economic policy practiced by Finance Minister Guido Mantega and the government of President Dilma Rousseff.

According to Dirceu, the criticisms and analyses of economists, most of whom he considers bankers, along with articles and interviews by former president Fernando Henrique Cardoso, are "hysterical outcry from the major newspapers." According to the Workers' Party member, the PSDB (Brazilian Social Democracy Party) advocates a return to the past, "in which they preach the return of privatizations, cuts in public spending, and higher interest rates and surpluses."

Read the full text of his post below:

The attack on the economic policy of the Dilma government is proof of the opposition's lack of alternatives.

The year has changed, we're back to work here on the blog and to our pleasant daily chat with you all, and only the opposition doesn't change, doesn't find itself, and doesn't face reality. Their criticisms of the fiscal and monetary measures of the Dilma Rousseff government, its counter-cyclical activism, and its defense of Brazil's trade are a testament to the opposition's absolute lack of alternatives.

In today's major newspapers, the opposition continues its intensified campaign at the turn of the year, but life contradicts our adversaries. Just look at the media: French President François Hollande will use 2 billion euros from the budget to combat unemployment, and central banks are loosening regulations for banks... As we can see, without the state and without central bank support, there is no salvation. But O Globo, the Marinho family's newspaper, for example, listens to the opposition and even encourages summoning the Finance Minister to explain the Dilma government's fiscal policy. They clearly don't learn...

It is therefore glaringly obvious how ridiculous the opposition spokespeople are, especially those from the PSDB party, defending, once again, a minimal state and criticizing the government for what they call statism, for intervention in the economy. The ridiculousness is even more atrocious because in the US and Europe, the state, governments, central banks, the IMF, and the European Union intervene in the economy, pouring trillions of dollars and euros into saving banks and companies, eliminating rights and social gains, and plunging their countries and people into recession and unemployment.

Opposition wants a return to the past.

But here the opposition continues its offensive aimed at re-establishing austerity measures and deregulation of the economy, privatization and the fight against inflation as the center of economic policy, and not the growth of employment and especially income, with real wage increases, job creation and the defense of our industry, with public investments not only in infrastructure but also in education and innovation, which this year represented the largest investments of the federal government.

Thus, the hysterical outcry from the major newspapers runs rampant in parallel with the interviews and articles of former president Fernando Henrique Cardoso and the economists – almost all of whom are now bankers – who advise the PSDB party on this return to the past, in which they advocate for the return of privatizations, cuts in public spending, and higher interest rates and surpluses.

They are still attacking – and how! – the role of the State and fueling a campaign that has already gained traction in major European newspapers, accusing the Dilma government of interventionism to the detriment of private investment. They are not ashamed; they do so precisely when the country received US$60 billion in Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) last year and sustains the largest public investment program of the last 30 years, represented by the PAC (Growth Acceleration Program) and investments in oil, gas, and energy.

Growth based on the domestic market has not run its course.

They want to convince us that growth supported by the domestic market has run its course, when it is exactly the opposite. We have an economy basically geared towards our domestic market and those of our neighbors – markets, it should be noted, of a unique size, with 400 million inhabitants, eager for services, capital and technology, essential goods and public services.

Not to mention that internally we still have a market to serve of at least 70 million Brazilians who lack housing, sanitation, transportation, health services, education, and household supplies. The entire country's infrastructure is under reconstruction, and our energy demand is only growing. So how can anyone argue that our growth cannot rely more on our domestic market?

Supporting our growth in the domestic market clearly does not mean abandoning or disregarding the foreign market. On the contrary, all our foreign and trade policy aims precisely at increasing exports and investments despite the global crisis we are experiencing. Also read the post "Unmissable: The First Carta Capital of 2013".