This note is an attempt at providing a background for understanding some
problems of the negotiations between Brazil and the IMF. The rules of the adjustment game
under the current international economic order are discussed first. Then an evaluation is
made of the role played by the Fund and of its tendency to “overkill” in the drawing of adjustment
programs. Examples of this are provided by an analysis of the second letter of intent
submitted by Brazil to the Fund.

JEL Classification: E31; E60.

This paper proposes a critical evaluation of the technological standards recently
imposed on Brazilian agriculture and suggests alternative strategies for technology policies
for small producers. Initially, a diagnosis is made of the situation and characteristics of the
peasant sector in Brazil and the impacts of agricultural modernization on this sector of agriculture.
In this diagnosis, there is also a concern to reveal that the institutional organization
x x for the generation and diffusion of agricultural technology by the public sector tends to
reinforce the penalties imposed by the economic system on small agricultural producers. The
last part of this work deals with an analysis of possible modernization strategies for small producers. In this part, there is a concern to reintroduce the “technological issue”, revealing
that a discussion of the appropriation of the results of increased productivity brought about
by modernization is more important than technological adequacy problems.

JEL Classification: Q16; Q18; Q12.

The international financial boom of the past 20 years presents features that, especially
in comparison with past experience, have given rise to a number of analytical confusions.
The first is that contemporary international finance is above or beyond the nation
state; yet the form of today’s Euromarkets is due largely to the impact of state policy, and
the markets hold together largely because of the implicit or explicit presence of the major
states – especially the principal guarantor of the system, the United States. The second major
error is to see Third World debt either as evidence of the success of developing countries’ inexorable
march toward full economic autonomy or as evidence of their total loss of econom-ic independence. In fact, foreign borrowing has strengthened the hand of the domestic states
and of the elites that support it and are supported by it, providing funds essential for the
constitution of an integrated national economy. At the same time, however, this borrowing
can place major constraints on the debtor country, especially in periods of economic trouble.
Contemporary international finance thus rests on strong support from the advanced capitalist
countries’ nation-states – a support which is now clearly aroding – and upon an implicit
partnership between lending banks and borrowing countries – a partnership now being
strained to the breaking point by increasingly onerous demands their creditors are making
on the heavily indebted developing countries.

JEL Classification: F34; F33; F32.

The article analyzes the concept of state monopoly capitalism and its application
to the current stage of capitalism in Brazil. The first part surveys the theoretical literature,
from Lenin’s original formulation to recent developments by French and Soviet authors
and sums up the main criticism to the concept. It also suggests the emphasis on the capital
internalization process as an alternative analytical approach for the understanding of modern
capitalism. In the second part, the article questions those authors who consider that the
concept of state monopoly capitalism provides an adequate framework for the analysis of
Brazilian capitalism.

JEL Classification: P12; P10; O10.

The diffusion of nuclear technology means more a development of a large network
of activities (e.g., capital goods, construction, metallurgical and chemical industries) than a
path for solving energy problems. Its ties with the arms race cause specific non-proliferation
problems. A close state-capital articulation emerges, which strengthens the subsumption of labour
and introduces new processes of social control. Already fulfilled investments give impulse
to this tendency. The Tlatelolco regime, banishing nuclear weapons from Latin America, seems
to establish a pre-condition for a regional solution to the problems thus arising. But, besides
the imperfect adhesion to the Treaty, technical and political reasons obstruct a regional integration
of the nuclear fuel cycle. Among other things, a lack of regional integration in other industries
makes nuclear expansion more dependent on extra-regional technological ties.

JEL Classification: Q42.

This note presents a critical analysis of the current state of the public accounts
of Brazil and the implementation of fiscal policy by Brazilian authorities, with focus on the
composition of the deficit, routes of taxation and spendings with subsides, and defends a
non-restrictive answer to Brazil’s issues.

JEL Classification: H62; H63; E62.

This short note points to the erroneous methodology used by the IMF in defining
public deficit and presenting alternatives to it.

JEL Classification: H62; H63; E62; F34.

We publish below the main documents of the agreement between Brazil and
the International Monetary Fund, which served as the basis for the renegotiation of its
debt with international banks. The Brazilian Government’s Letter of Intent, the Technical
Memorandum of Understanding, both from December 1982, the February Addendum and
the Technical Assessment from June 1983 are presented successively.

JEL Classification: F34; F33; F32.