Presidents
Rousseff and Obama: a contrast in economic plans.
The 'Shocking Contrast':
Capitalism in the U.S. and Brazil (Folha, Brazil)
"The
contrast of plans for the immediate future drawn up by the governments of
Barack Obama and Dilma Rousseff is shocking. In
theory, the first item on the agenda for an emerging country like Brazil would be
development. For an already mature economy like that of the United States, it
is enough, in theory of course, just to surf the waters of stability. …Yet
Barack Obama, in messages accompanying his budget proposal for the last two
years of his term, has proposed what he calls 21st century capitalism. … This
may all just be talk, as Elio Gaspari would say, but talk
to talk, Obama’s is more seductive, is it not?"
The contrast of plans for the immediate future drawn up by
the governments of Barack Obama and Dilma Rousseff is
shocking.
In theory, the first item on the agenda for an emerging
country like Brazil would be development. For an already mature economy like
that of the United States, it is enough, in theory of course, just to surf the
waters of stability.
Yet Barack Obama, in messages accompanying his budget
proposal for the last two years of his term, has proposed what he calls 21st
century capitalism.
In contrast, Dilma Rousseff is
obligated due to mistakes made in her first term to adopt a 20th century agenda
characterized by prioritizing the overhaul Brazil's public accounts. It is a
necessary adjustment, no doubt, but one that is light years from any hope of finally
leading the country to emerge in the 21st century.
More contrasts: Obama says that creating jobs that pay good
salaries is the best way to expand the economy and middle class. His proposal: 21st
century capitalism will be a middle class capitalism.
In Brazil the jobs that arise are mainly those with low
wages, and the middle class that emerged during the Lula years and which has
always existed is paying the greatest cost for the adjustment in public
accounts (the rich, it’s good to make clear, almost always escapes these
adjustments).
In the U.S., Obama is proposing a tax to be imposed only
once on the earnings of U.S. multinationals abroad, as well as boosting the maximum
tax on dividends and capital gains from 23.8 percent to 28 percent.
The money will be used to improve infrastructure, a kind of
gringo PAC [Program
for Accelerated Growth], with investments of $478 billion (1.3 trillion rials). As much as the U.S. infrastructure has
deteriorated, it is better than Brazil's, for which there is no new money for improvement
and repair. Nor is there any old money, especially now that Petrobras,
the great investor in the past, has announced it is downsizing.
Posted by Worldmeets.US
While Brazil focuses on austerity even in an economy that is
slowing (or worse), Obama has announced that “to compete in the 21st century
economy and make America a magnet for job creation and opportunity, we need to
invest in innovation, strengthening our manufacturing base [Brazil's is
shrinking], keeping our nation at the forefront of technological advancement,
and leading in the development of clean energy alternatives and the promotion
of energy efficiency." (In Brazil, what is commented on is the risk of
rationing - and not just of energy).
This may all just be talk, as Elio
Gaspari would say, but talk to talk, Obama’s is more seductive, is it not?
At least it creates hope for better days on the horizon. As if that weren't enough,
Obama has expressed sympathy with the new Greek
government and its rejection of austerity. “At some point a strategy of growth
is necessary to be able to pay your debts,” the president told CNN.
It is this strategy of austerity that has failed in Greece
and is failing in Brazil.
Clovis Rossi is a special correspondent and
member of the Folha editorial board, is a winner of the Maria Moors
Cabot award (USA) and is a member of the Foundation for a New Ibero-American Journalism. His column appears on
Thursdays and Sundays on page 2 and on Saturdays in the World Notebook
section. He is the author, among other works, of Special Envoy: 25 Years
Around the World and What is Journalism?
