The democratization in Latin America can assert a new paradigm of development
for the region. This hypothesis is considered from the analysis of both external
and internal economic challenges, and from the democratization’s economic potentialities.
The greatest challenge is transcending those modalities of economic, social and political
organization, which originated the authoritarianism and its various modalities. The
democratization’s intermediate and long-time potentialities are analysed in the circuit of social
innovation, creativeness, public administration, and regional integration, excluding the
neoliberal conceptions in “Cone Sul” in order to suggest new ways and means to progress.

JEL Classification: P17; P11; O54.

Starting from the realization that political crises have typically occurred in Brazil
at the same time in which economic crises were also taking place, this paper attempts to
inquire into the reasons for this coincidence. In the first two sections, a theoretical analysis
is developed which puts forward some reasons why economic crises are prone to generate
political crises. In the rest of the paper, the general ideas so far presented are applied to the
case of the two more recent economic and political crises that occurred in Brazil: that of the
early l960’s and the present one.

JEL Classification: E32; D72; Z13.

A plan to combat inflation, specially the galloping inflation, is stated in this
paper through a simples method which, using a combination of the income policy and a
very moderate restriction of demand, consists of the introduction of a new currency or the
price-stable “secondary currency”. After its introduction, the prices and the principal incomes
should be frozen. According to the author, the success of this plan, for any country, will
depend on the obedience to important requirements about its budgetary deficit and current
account deficit.

JEL Classification: E31.

This paper presents evidence that the production of some basic food crops in
Brazil is characterized by singular technical and social features vis-à-vis other food and export
crops. After proposing an analysis of this differentiated production structure, the paper
goes on to argue that these food production’s singularities have the consequences of: 1)
making the share of labor cost in total unit cost higher in the production of these food crops;
and 2) producing a negative impact of economic growth upon food supply, due to the improved
employment opportunities in the urban and rural labour markets. An implication of
this analysis is the attribution of lesser emphasis on the inter-relationship food/export crops
within agriculture, in favor of a greater emphasis on the inter-relationship of food production/
overall labor market conditions.

JEL Classification: Q11; Q13; Q17; F14.

The paper assesses the socio-economic nature of the 1979/80 drought in the
Northeast on the basis of a survey conducted by the Joaquim Nabuco Foundation. It purports
to show the essence of the difficulties that drought brings to the population of its official
victims – those enrolled in the Emergency Program coordinated by SUDENE, a sample
of which was interviewed. A conclusion of the study reveals that the effects of a drought are
more intense, the poorer the affected social strata. Another conclusion indicates that the official
refugees’ production of subsistence crops had a decline of around 70 percent in 1978/80.

JEL Classification: Q54; Q25; Q15.

Internal migration is a phenomenon with serious social consequences, particularly
in developing countries. Between the demographic issues of low population in some
areas to overpopulation in others to the emergency of low-quality employment, it becomes
relevant to understand how it fits inside the research of economic development and try to
grasp its causes as well. This paper aims to perform a critical review of the current theories
around internal migration.

JEL Classification: B29; J61; J10.

For the first time in 21 years, Brazil has a civil government. This paper aims to
analyze the challenges to be faced by the Sarney Government and the strategies its team is
proposing to tackle them.

JEL Classification: D72; E60.

This paper aims to present and discuss some elements extracted from the bibliography
towards the origins and initial evolution of the Light Group in Brazil with the goal of
elaborating a study of the financial expansion of the group in its first 40 years of existence
in Brazil.

JEL Classification: N76; L94.

diante de uma inflação muito elevada, a partir do segundo semestre de 1984, os
sindicatos vêm pressionando pelo aumento da frequência dos reajustes salariais. Esta nota
explora o atual sistema de ajustes semestrais e propõe um ajuste mensal.

JEL Classification: E31; J33; J38; J31.

This is a review of “A Fantasia Organizada” by Celso Furtado.

JEL Classification: Y30; B22.

technical paper on the production of the IPCA, one of Brazil’s official inflation
indexes and a compilation of data.

JEL Classification: E30; C43; E31.