Brazil Inc.
Finance
The future of human beings is what matters
By Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, The president of Brazil — Financial Times, London
...Nobody dares to predict today what will be the future of capitalism. As the governor of a great economy described as "emerging", what I can say is what sort of society I hope will emerge from this crisis. It will reward production and not speculation. The function of the financial sector will be to stimulate productive activity — and it will be the object of rigorous controls, both national and international, by means of serious and representative organisations. International trade will be free of the protectionism that shows dangerous signs of intensifying. The reformed multilateral organisations will operate programmes to support poor and emerging economies with the aim of reducing the imbalances that scar the world today. There will be a new and democratic system of global governance. New energy policies, reform of systems of production and of patterns of consumption will ensure the survival of a planet threatened today by global warming. But, above all, I hope for a world free of the economic dogmas that invaded the thinking of many and were presented as absolute truths. Anti-cyclical policies must not be adopted only when a crisis is under way. Applied in advance — as they have been in Brazil — they can be the guarantors of a more just and democratic society. As I said at the outset, I do not give much importance to abstract concepts. I am not worried about the name to be given to the economic and social order that will come after the crisis, so long as its central concern is with human beings. >>> Go to Full Story >>>