The art of law & macroeconomics

In the world’s current condition of macroeconomic turmoil, a justifiable question arises: what is the contribution that legal scholars, as opposed to economists, can make to macroeconomic regulation? Since mainstream Law & Economics scholarship adapts much more easily to micro (rather than macro) economics, an alternative paradigm is needed. I propose that legal scholars explore the Art of Law & Macroeconomics, a concept that links legal knowledge and the art of economics. Legal scholars are therefore expected to offer policy advice based on their understanding of the internal rationality and structure of the legal system.

The art of being together: a social constructionist perspective on dialogic methods in the organizational context

The purpose of this project is to understand, under a social constructionist approach, what are the meanings that external facilitators and organizational members (sponsors) working with dialogic methods place on themselves and their work. Dialogic methods, with the objective of engaging groups in flows of conversations to envisage and co-create their own future, are growing fast within organizations as a means to achieve collective change. Sharing constructionist ideas about the possibility of multiple realities and language as constitutive of such realities, dialogue has turned into a promising way for transformation, especially in a macro context of constant change and increasing complexity, where traditional structures, relationships and forms of work are questioned. Research on the topic has mostly focused on specific methods or applications, with few attempts to study it in a broader sense. Also, despite the fact that dialogic methods work on the assumption that realities are socially constructed, few studies approach the topic from a social constructionist perspective, as a research methodology per se. Thus, while most existing research aims at explaining whether or how particular methods meet particular results, my intention is to explore the meanings sustaining these new forms of organizational practice. Data was collected through semi-structured interviews with 25 people working with dialogic methods: 11 facilitators and 14 sponsors, from 8 different organizations in Brazil. Firstly, the research findings indicate several contextual elements that seem to sustain the choices for dialogic methods. Within this context, there does not seem to be a clear or specific demand for dialogic methods, but a set of different motivations, objectives and focuses, bringing about several contrasts in the way participants name, describe and explain their experiences with such methods, including tensions on power relations, knowledge creation, identity and communication. Secondly, some central ideas or images were identified within such contrasts, pointing at both directions: dialogic methods as opportunities for the creation of new organizational realities (with images of a ‘door’ or a ‘flow’, for instance, which suggest that dialogic methods may open up the access to other perspectives and the creation of new realities); and dialogic methods as new instrumental mechanisms that seem to reproduce the traditional and non-dialogical forms of work and relationship. The individualistic tradition and its tendency for rational schematism - pointed out by social constructionist scholars as strong traditions in our Western Culture - could be observed in some participants’ accounts with the image of dialogic methods as a ‘gym’, for instance, in which dialogical – and idealized –‘abilities’ could be taught and trained, turning dialogue into a tool, rather than a means for transformation. As a conclusion, I discuss what the implications of such taken-for-granted assumptions may be, and offer some insights into dialogue (and dialogic methods) as ‘the art of being together’.

The Indetermination of Senior

The commitments and working requirements of abstract, applied, and art of, economics are assessed within an analogy with the fields of inert matter and life. Abstract economics is the pure logic of the phenomenon. Applied positive economics presupposes many distinct abstract sciences. Art presupposes applied economics and direct knowledge of the specificities which characterize the time-space individuality of the phenomenon. This is an indetermination clearly formulated by Senior and Mill; its connection with institutionalism is discussed. The Ricardian Vice is the habit of ignoring the indetermination; its prevalence in mainstream economics is exemplified, and its causes analyzed.

The Ricardian vice and the indetermination of senior

The general commitments and working requirements of abstract, applied, and art of science, including economics, are assessed. Pure economics deals with the logic of the phenomenon. Positive socio-economics presupposes pure economics and many distinct sciences. Art presupposes socio-economics and direct knowledge of the specificities which characterize the time-space individuality of the phenomenon. This indetermination was partially formulated by Senior and Mill; graduate education in economics is considered in its light. The habit of ignoring it is the Ricardian Vice, as named by Schumpeter; the prevalence of the vice is exemplified, and its causes analyzed.

Gestão de dados: um levantamento de seu estado-da-Arte

Nos últimos anos, o volume de dados gerados pelas organizações produtivas brasileiras tem crescido vertiginosamente. Com isso, a Gestão de Dados tem se mostrado uma das práticas mais importantes na administração da atualidade. Assim, essa pesquisa procurou mostrar, através de pesquisas bibliográfica e documental, quais são as práticas mais atuais na Gestão de Dados. Descobrindo, em linhas gerais, que as empresas hoje se encontram inseridas definitivamente em um contexto 'virtual', e que as ferramentas de Gestão de Dados 'infiltraram-se' nos mais diversos processos empresariais, e a Internet se tornou o mais indispensável 'ambiente' da atualidade. Além disso, ainda há muito a ser discutido sobre os impactos causados pelas ferramentas de Gestão de Dados junto às Organizações, principalmente no que diz respeito ao bem-estar dos indivíduos que as compõe.

A construção política do estado

In the relations between society and the state, the two forms of politically organized societies – the nation and civil society – play a key role, as also do class coalitions and political pacts. The relation between both is dialectical, but, initially, the state exerts more influence on the society; as democratization takes place this relation gradually changes in favor of society. Despite the fact that politics (the art of governing the state) is subjected to economic and political constraints, it counts with a relative autonomy. It is not the state but politics that has relative autonomy. Whereas society and the economy are the realm of necessity, politics is the realm of men’s will and freedom. The deterministic political theories that search to predict political behavior fail because they ignore this relative autonomy of politics. It is through politics, in the framework of the democratic state, that men and women build their state and their society.

Projetos de memória e imagem institucional: um estudo de caso do Banco Itaú

Fenômeno que tem sofrido um crescimento considerável nas últimas décadas, a constituição de projetos de memória empresarial se insere em um panorama mais amplo de valorização do passado na sociedade contemporânea, caracterizada pela 'febre da memória'. Parte de um expediente que tem como objetivo final fortalecer a identidade e a imagem dessas instituições entre seus funcionários e o público mais amplo, essas iniciativas têm gerado diferentes produtos e linhas de ação, sendo inicialmente vinculadas às áreas de marketing e comunicação, mas mostrando sinais de profissionalização e ampliação dos seus horizontes. O presente estudo tomou como objeto de análise o projeto memorial do Banco Itaú, criado em 2003, buscando compreender a natureza dessa iniciativa e de que maneira ela colabora na consolidação da imagem de 'vocação' cultural do Banco.

Uma análise crítica do papel da jurisprudência no planejamento tributário: tensões principiológicas e desafios à uniformidade

Como em países de tradição civil law, o sistema jurídico brasileiro consagra a lei como fonte primária e garantia do Estado de Direito. A hermenêutica, como teoria científica da arte de interpretar, impõe-se em nosso sistema como canal destinado a suprir as vaguezas e imprecisões da lei e resolver-lhe os conflitos normativos, pelos métodos e critérios tradicionais. A jurisprudência, entendida como um conjunto uniforme e constante de decisões sobre assuntos similares, tem um papel secundário, e as ideias de Direito e Justiça, nesse contexto, muito se aproximam da lei. Com a promulgação da Constituição democrática de 1988, e o renascimento do direito constitucional brasileiro, cujo marco filosófico é o pós-positivismo, o constituinte atribuiu normatividade aos princípios constitucionais. Mas não sistematizou as relações dos princípios entre si, e destes com regras igualmente positivadas na Constituição, fazendo emergir certas tensões principiológicas e também entre princípios e regras constitucionais. Superado o modelo positivista, que equiparava o Direito à lei, ganharam grande importância as discussões relacionadas à neutralidade do aplicador da norma, e os voluntarismos e personalismos praticados sob ideais subjetivos de justiça. Nesse novo contexto, a jurisprudência assume papel protagonista, e aproxima o modelo brasileiro das jurisdições do common law. Entretanto, a vinculação apenas extraordinária dos julgadores aos precedentes, que deita raízes no regime de livre convencimento, induz falta de uniformidade e de coerência dos julgados, acerca de questões jurídicas similares, comprometendo a estabilidade, gerando incerteza e insegurança jurídica, e por via de consequência, relevantes empecilhos ao planejamento empresarial e aos investimentos que dele dependem, o que tende a gerar prejuízos ao ambiente de negócios do País. Essa perspectiva tem o objetivo de demonstrar que o Direito, enquanto sistema harmônico de normas, requer limites claros, e que esses limites, em nosso sistema constitucional, significam precisamente a imposição de métodos que assegurem à sociedade pronunciamentos uniformes e coerentes por parte do aplicador da norma, mediante observância de precedentes adequadamente sopesados em direção à harmonia, segurança jurídica e previsibilidade.