Urban transport in the era of economic liberalization

In that decade, a different solution was required, because the Latin American economies, with only a few exceptions, were already regulated, protected and supervised by the State. One notable exception was the Chilean economy, which, at the onset of the 1970s, had been among the most controlled economies in the region after Cuba. Beginning in 1976/1977, Chile's economy underwent profound restructuring with the adoption of neoliberal policies, involving a reduction in customs tariffs, a decrease in State subsidies, the first steps towards the privatization of state-owned enterprises and a loosening of controls both over prices and production processes in general. The Chilean experience initially gave good results, but in 1982 Chile fell into a deep recession, caused to some extent by the continued fixing of one of the most important prices, that of the Chilean peso on the foreign exchange market, together with inadequate regulation of the banking sector.

Index of political instability in Brazil, 1889-2009

This article aims to develop an index of political instability (ins) in Brazil between 1889 and 2009, reflecting a wide-ranging set of multiple phenomena that represent conflicts between the different social groups. By presenting different definitions of what is understood by political instability in the economics literature and by using multiple historical events —coups d’état, civil conflicts, constitutional or unconstitutional overthrow and changes in the composition of 50% of the ministerial cabinet— different indicators are obtained which are then synthesized into a single index using the principal component technique, to obtain an ins for Brazil between 1889 and 2009.

As três camadas da política externa do governo Collor: poder, legitimidade e dissonância

Pós-graduação em Relações Internacionais (UNESP - UNICAMP - PUC-SP) - FFC

Going through the labyrinth: the political economy of Argentina’s abandonment of the gold standard (1929-1933)

This article is the short but crucial history of four years of transition in a monetary and exchange-rate regime that culminated in 1933 with the final abandonment of the gold standard in Argentina. That process involved decisions made at critical junctures at which the government authorities had little time to deliberate and against which they had no analytical arsenal, no technical certainties and few political convictions. The objective of this study is to analyse those “decisions” at seven milestone moments, from the external shock of 1929 to the submission to Congress of a bill for the creation of the central bank and a currency control regime characterized by multiple exchange rates. The new regime that this reordering of the Argentine economy implied would remain in place, in one form or another, for at least a quarter of a century.

O pensamento político em Eurípides / Euripides” political thought

No sempre reconhecido realismo euripidiano se inclui um envolvimento político. É notável o elogio a Atenas, seja a seu passado ilustre, seja a seu papel no mundo grego. Entretanto a guerra a que Atenas se atira e que faz enfraquecer a Grécia é condenada, pois a defesa de Atenas, concretizada na defesa de seu regime político, a democracia, não inclui a defesa do imperialismo ateniense. Assim, acima de Eurípides patriota se ergue o Eurípides humanista, preocupado com as responsabilidades do ser humano, não apenas do cidadão. Eurípides’ acknowledge realism includes a political involvement. The eulogy of Athens is remarkable both regarding her illustrious past and her role in the greek world. The war in which Athens is engaged and which weakens Greece, however, is condemned, for Athens’ defense, made real in the defense of her political regime, democracy, does not include the defense of Athenian imperialism. Thus, Euripides the patriot is excelled by Euripides the humanist, who is more concerned with the responsibilities of the human being, than with those of the citizen’s.

O Brasil e o novo desenvolvimentismo

The global economic scenario, from the late 1980s, it was predominantly marked by the hegemony of political and economic orthodoxy. The strength of a great political pact that brought together the financial sector, rentiers and the big capital, and had the Washington Consensus as base, induced countries to adopt liberalizing policies such as trade liberalization, privatization and deregulation. The failure of these policies, manifested in unemployment, external vulnerability and low growth has led to a change in economic direction, particularly after the election of President Lula. Amid this situation, we can see a reorientation of the role of the Brazilian state, in response to a movement of their own society organized to implement a new national strategy, with the state as a promoter of development. In this project of a new strategy, the state action becomes strategic and not systemic, turning to strengthen national companies in strategic sectors and internationally competitive. In this ongoing process of a new development strategy, we adopted the conceptualization of what Bresser-Pereira calls the new developmentalism.

A institucionalização da agricultura familiar no mercosul

The Mercosul project, signed in 1991, represents the union of a political project, characterized by a democratic agreement among its members, with an economical project characterized by the trade liberalization among its regional members and among these with the global economy. So, it was constituted, with the aim to expand the national trades by the integration, to increase the economic development process with social justice. However, the Mercosul follows the historical trajectory of Latin America integration, characterized by models that aimed the economical development from the strengthening of the industry. According to that, the Mercosul politics are priority for economic issues, focused in the industrialization and trade relations, giving less priority to the social demands. In opposition to such ideas, in 2004 was created the Especialized Meeting about Family Farm (Reunião Especializada sobre Agricultura Familiar - REAF) in the Mercosul, that aim to strengthen the public policies of the sector, to promote the commercialization of the family farm products in the region. So, the family farm, a sector historically marginalized from the integration projects, it is institutionalized in the Mercosul. In that way, the aim of this research is to discuss the reasons that leaded to the family farm institutionalization, and also to analyze the advances and problems of the Especialized Meeting about Family Farm

Políticas e desenvolvimento do estado de Mato Grosso após abertura comercial: análise da visão de dois empresários atuantes no setor

After realizing two interviews, with distinct managers/businessmen working in the cotton industry, the objective is to put in evidence the political, economical and social factors that contributed to the formation and configuration of the Mato Grosso state, after the trade liberalization that occurred in the early 90's, it's effects and consequences in the eyes of the interviewed. The study of public policies is primordial to the discovery of the configuration of determined place, evaluating advances and possible errors in the social, economical and environmental areas. Through the analysis of the interviews it has been found that the urban centers have been developing with a direct link to the industrial activities related to agriculture and that the labor work force have also been attracted because of these changes, and as a consequence this labor force is now becoming more specialized to be able to accompany the jobs requirements in the industry. Analyzing the interviews, it is possible to highlight some information about the development of Mato Grosso, among those the following factors and public policies. The creation and expansion of the cities in the state are possible through public and private investment in infrastructure the socioeconomic development of the state is linked with the advances made in the private sector that grows because of advances made in crops technology in contrast to the occupation of the cerrado, in relation to the cotton crops. The problems that Mato Grosso is facing are mainly linked to the region infrastructure, that can count on investment plans to transportation and production flow that dates before the globalization era. The pattern that is seen today with top of the line agricultural production, big monoculture with high productivity and the arrival of multinational giants, was implanted because of two important events: the trade liberalization in the 1990's and the cambial depreciation in the 1999's...

Review of The Other Alberta: Decoding a Political Enigma by Doreen Barrie

Doreen Barrie should have subtitled this book "Advocating a Different Identity" because this is its basic thrust. In Barrie's view, today's wealthy, modern, and expansive Alberta should abandon its historic grievances and hostility towards Ottawa. Instead, it should embrace a new narrative emphasizing "the positive qualities Albertans possess . . . the contributions the province has made to the country . . . and that Albertans share fundamental Canadian values with people in other parts of Canada and are eager to playa larger role on the national stage."