Casa das Garças podcast on economics since the 1980s should become a book

The initial idea was to hold a series of meetings between economics students and public policy makers. The restrictions imposed by the pandemic, however, would help transform the project into the podcast The Art of Economic Policy, produced by the Institute for Economic Policy Studies (Iepe)/Casa das Garças.

Comprising 30 episodes, the series brings together managers who have participated in practically all governments since redemocratization and is now on the way to becoming an ebook, a project that is being analyzed by the institution’s directors.

Present on several audio platforms, the material is also available on the institution’s website, where it is accompanied by a summary of each interview and bibliographic suggestions from the participants — an initiative that takes up the original idea of ​​focusing on undergraduate students.

Audience data, however, show that interest went far beyond this audience.

José Augusto Coelho Fernandes, Iepe/Casa das Garças researcher responsible for conducting the interviews, says that 76% of the audience is between 23 and 44 years old, with 94% of listeners in Brazil (almost half of them in São Paulo) and 6% abroad, with emphasis also on people from the financial market and professionals in the field of law.

“It was a result, in terms of audience and impact, that exceeded expectations, since we had thought of the program more focused on a specific audience of undergraduate students”, he says.

A temporal cut of the period covered could be symbolized by the opening and closing episodes of the series, starring, respectively, the former finance ministers Mailson da Nóbrega (Sarney administration) and Pedro Malan (FHC administration).

But there are also names that have passed through the first Lula administration, such as the former secretaries of the Ministry of Finance Murilo Portugal and Marcos Lisboa, and the Michel Temer administration, such as the former secretary of the Treasury Ana Paula Vescovi and the former president of BNDES Maria Silvia Bastos Marques.

The episodes are grouped by themes, such as the formulation of the Real Plan, crisis management, institution building and unfinished reforms.

To talk about the Real Plan, Edmar Bacha, founding partner and director of Casa das Garças, and former BC presidents Persio Arida and Gustavo Franco were chosen.

Elena Landau, Ricardo Paes de Barros and Paulo Tafner participate in the sequence on microeconomic reforms. Ana Carla Abrão, Bernard Appy and Claudia Costin, on unfinished renovations.

When asked about the absence of managers from the Lula 2 and Dilma Rousseff governments, from 2007 to 2016, and from the current administration, Fernandes replied that preference was given to professionals who already participated in activities with the institute, in addition to specialists in some subjects. specific. Iepe/Casa das Garças is an institution identified with the most orthodox economic thinking and distant from interventionist policies on both the left and the right.

Fernandes affirms that the purpose of the series is to serve as a historical record on the practice of economic policy in Brazil since the 1980s, in addition to seeking lessons for the present.

An issue frequently cited by participants is the evolution of some proposals and public policies that have been waiting for an opportunity to become viable.

“This is one of the conclusions that are repeated by several exhibitors. That what they did often was to seek within the government structure itself proposals that were already ready and had not found the window of opportunity to be implemented”, says José Augusto.

He also highlights the advice that remains for future managers. Although in some cases the words may apply to current power holders. Or excess power, as former minister Mailson da Nóbrega says.

“In the ministry, the concern of the economic team must overcome the interests of expanding power, since, by nature, due to the great attributions given to the Minister of Finance, he is already a fundamental figure. the function of minister, it is up to prioritize his functions and avoid excessive centralization.”

Episode themes

Crisis of the 80s

Mailson da Nóbrega

royal plane

Edmar Lisboa Bacha
Persio Arida
Gustavo Franco

Crisis Management
Arminio Fraga
Pedro Parente
Murilo Portugal
Amaury beer
Edward Guard

Monetary and Tax Regimes

Gustavo Loyola and Eduardo Guimaraes
Sergio Werlang
Ilan Goldfajn
Ana Paula Vescovi
Cristiane Schmidt

Microeconomic Reforms

Marcos Lisbon
Elena Landau
Jose Marcio Camargo
Ricardo Paes de Barros
Paulo Tafner
Maria Silvia Bastos Marques

Unfinished Reforms

Ana Carla Abram
Bernard Appy
Sandra Rios
Claudia Costin
Joana Monteiro
Juliano Assunção

Leadership and the Art of Economic Policy

Paulo Hartung
Marcílio Marques Moreira
Peter Malan

Phrases