Opinion – Maria Inês Dolci: Consumers are realistic, not pessimistic

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The increase in the pessimism of businessmen and consumers – regrettable for the country, by the way – is the famous jumping jack secret, that is, it is common knowledge. The Brazilian economy, jobs, income and investments in education, science and technology were destroyed. What did they expect? Confidence that the same craftsmen from the sinking would save the Titanic?

The hope was that the increase in the rate of vaccinated against Covid-19 would make life return to normal, or almost. And that this included a return to shopping, which would make the economy go forward. There are vaccines, but many people did not show up at the posts to take the second and third doses. The optimists have also forgotten – or pretended to forget – that most of the jobs that emerge are precarious, informal and low-paying.

What’s more, the return of generalized inflation scares customers away. Every week the products are more expensive, and this works as a brake on consumption. Another important aspect is digital threats, such as the hacker attack on the Lojas Americanas website. This forces buyers to check websites very carefully, and to invest in more complete and sophisticated antivirus, that is, more expensive.

Without consumers there is no consumption. With low income and middle class walled up, the money is barely enough for basic expenses, many of them at administered prices, such as electricity, cooking gas and fuel.

What is the expected magic for the economy to improve? They said that the way out would be privatization. They didn’t privatize. Correction of the Income Tax table. They didn’t. The increase in the exemption range. They didn’t increase. The generation of formal jobs. It didn’t even come close to necessary.

Electoral gimmicks, such as the attempt to artificially reduce fuel prices, we already know how they end, and who will pay the bill (us).

The very poor are forced to choose: pay water, electricity and property tax on time, or eat. If they decide to eat, there is another dilemma: how to cook, if LPG costs almost 10% of the minimum wage? More than half of Brazilian households are in classes D and E, with an income of up to R$2,800.

The situation is only worse because almost four million became micro-entrepreneurs or individual micro-entrepreneurs in 2021. But these businesses face difficulties, such as retraction in consumption, high interest rates, bureaucracy and lack of a clear economic guideline for the country.

One of the several reasons for this scenario, which prevents consumers from dreaming about new products and services, is the performance of the industry. The market predicts a sluggish growth or even stagnation of GDP (Gross Domestic Product) this year. And the industry, responsible for more than 20% of the sum of the wealth of Brazil, should pull the numbers down.

All that’s left for us to do is budget, compare prices, avoid credit card revolving, save electricity and fuel, and choose our political representatives very well. For millions of Brazilians, the way out has been to exchange premium branded products for cheaper ones. And for millions of others, including viscera and bones in their daily diet.

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