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What are five factors that influence demand?
Concisely: (Y being Income) 1. Number of consumers (naturally, more consumers means more D) 2. Income & normal goods (as Y...

How was the French economy after World War 2?
After WW2 - The agricultural production in France had fallen of more than a third from 1938 to 1945, causing penury, resuppling...

What is laissez-faire?
Laissez-faire economics is the belief that economic imbalances are self-correcting, not requiring intervention by government so...

What is the world's wealthiest country?
There are several measures of the wealth of a country. I will list three of the most common measures. What these measures mean...

What determines the amount of money a country can print?
A countries central banking system generally decides what amount of money a country can print. Contrary to popular belief,...

What countries have a mixed economy?
The definition of mixed economy remains somewhat subjective. Both the US and Cuba have been refered to as mixed economies as all...

What is macroeconomics?
AnswerMacroeconomic deals with the functioning of the economy as the whole. It is concerned with economy wide issues such as...

What were the key elements of the program that came to be called Reaganomics?
Reaganomics (identified with the 40th President, from 1981 to 1989) was referred to as "supply side" economics (or the critical...

Why was the European Union formed?
Some of the reasons for the establishment of the European Union (EU) Already in the 1920s some politicians (such as Briand and...

How did money originate?
Ug gave his friend Org a pretty rock in exchange for a bite of Org's apple. Org later exchanged the rock for a bite of Iggy's...

What is difference between cross price elasticity demand and income elasticity demand?
Cross price elasticity of demand measures how much demand of one good, say x changes when the price of another good, say y...

What is political instability?
To my opinion, political instability is a situation where by a country is currently going through political turmoil. It may also...

What are the disadvantages of mixed economy system?
The disadvantages of a mixed economy really depend on how "mixed" it is. For instance, if it is mixed more towards a free-market,...

Should Newspapers and book publishers convert to electronic publishing over paper publishing as their primary product?
AnswerNO! Only a fraction of the worlds people have access to computers or the energy needed to operate them. How would a...

How do you explain GNI per capita?
A measure of the wealth earned by nations through economic activites all around the world. Gross National Income comprises the...

How much of a salary hike do you need each year just to keep pace with inflation?
AnswerGenerally, you need the same rate of increase or decrease in your salary as the inflation rate. If you make 10,000 and...

Why is Germany an economic rival of Great Britain?
All industrial nations are rivals with one another. They compete for resources and markets constantly. Britain, owing to...

What was the theory of mercantilism?
Mercantilism Mercantilism was the economic philosophy underlying early European colonial policy. The object of mercantilism was...

Why are gas prices so high?
Gasoline comes from oil. Retail prices are determined by the sellers, based on their costs, and the prices paid to produce,...

Is China a threat to Indian Software Industry?
China's rapidly growing software industry will soon rival India's, not necessarily eclipsing it. Before the 1990s, China was...

How different is a market economy from centrally planned economy?
Central Planning: A centrally planned economy relies on a party in power to decide what resources should be allocated to various...

What is the advantage of free market economy?
Wikimedia Free Encyclopedia explains: A market economy (also called a free market economy or a free enterprise economy) is an...

What are advantages and disadvantages of market economy?
There are many advantages to a free market economy. They range from the moral issues to the practical issues. We will deal mainly...

What are the uses and advantages of price mechanism?
Basically the price mechanism acts as "an invisible hand" or signaling mechanism. They play a key role in allocating resources...

What are the advantages of leaving the allocation of a country's resources to the price mechanism?
If relatively weak conditions are satisfied, then whatever allocation of resources results from the use of the price mechanism...

What is Austrian Economics?
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=define%3A+Austrian+Economics

What currency was used in the 1700s?
This depends on the country. Most currencies, however, were based on gold and silver. In America, in the 13 colonies, tobacco...

Why do some people believe that a mixed economic system solves basic economic problems?
It is because both the private sector and public sector have a say in answering the basic economic questions, thus there will be...

What is the law of variable proportion in economics?
Sometimes referred to as variable factor proportions, law of diminishing returns states that as equal quantities of one variable...

Does Europe the USA or China have the largest economy?
1- Europe (remember Italy, French, UK and Germany are 4 world's power) 2- USA 3- China. 2006 GDP Figures from the CIA World...

What are possible advantages to a multinational corporation of entering a high potential and high growth economy?
Possible advantages of a multinarional corporation are: 1.Multinational Companies are able to sell far more than other type of...

What is the marginal cost of capital?
Marginal or incremental cost of capital is cost of the additional capital raised in a given period

What is so gross about the national product?
Economics Answer: The Gross National Product in one definition is the sum of all final goods and services produces in an...

Show with examples that if the marginal product is always decreasing the average product is always above the marginal product?
Paper silver has been heavily shorted in the last few weeks. Low volume indicated by the 30& 60 day averages has not brought...

How do tax cuts affect the economy?
Tax cuts improve the economy by giving the people more spending power and higher consumer confidence which leads to them spending...

What is the role of marketing in the implementation of adaptive strategies for expansion?
The expansion of a company depends solely on the marketing of it's product or anything pertain to it.Actually marketing it's...

How best to define economics?
According to Princeton University, Economics is the study of the production, distribution and consumption of goods and...

What is the significance of foreign exchange rate risk and how can this risk be mitigated?
Foreign exchange risk is the level of uncertainty that a company must manage for changes in foreign exchange rates, that will...

How do economy's produce?
These questions are the basic economic questions to which all economies strive to answer. This is because there are a limited...

Who has the world's largest economy?
USA, although if treated as a single entity the EU is signifigantly larger.

When did the World Trade Organization start?

What are the examples of perfect competition in economics?
AnswerI have found one example on wikipedia where it says that ebay auctions can be seen as perfectly competitive. There are very...

What are the types of market economies?
Free-Market Economy (or Liberal Market Economy): An economic system comprised mainly of privately-owned enterprise (businesses),...

How does outsourcing affect the economy?
In principle, outsourcing makes things a little cheaper and should therefore increase profitabilty. However, some things need to...

Is zero inflation a good thing?
Yes and no, and here's why: Inflation is not a good thing because it slows down economic growth. For example, when inflation is...

What perceives the global economic system as responsible for the less developed global south countries dependence on and exploitation by the wealthy global north countries?

What were the economic causes of fascism in Spain?
If what you mean is "what were the economic causes of the social conflict and unrest which led to the civil war, of which the...

How many African-Americans currently live in poverty?
According to www.info.please there are about 39.2 million blacks in America of whom 24.7% have incomes below the federal poverty...

Who decides what goods services will be produced and sold in the US?
Mostly the American consumer. The US government also plays a large role in the nation's economy, constituting roughly 36% of GDP...

Who is Adam Smith?
Which one? You probably mean the Scottish philosopher/Economist. He is most famous for defining modern economic theory in a book...

What is globalisation and what are its effects on the Indian economy?
Largely positive. Globalization has brought many jobs and large sums of investment to India.

How has money evolved into the currency we use today?
Money as we know it, paper money (which will henceforth be called by its technical term, fiat - French for "fake" - money),...

How did the United States benefit from the World War I when it first started?
economic benefits were from the sale of exports to countries at war with Germany

How do reductions in government spending affect the economy?
Generally the government is very good at wasting money and resources so less spending, generally speaking, by the government...

What are the advantages of saving money?
Answer1.) You won't have to pay tens of thousands in interest when you borrow money. 2.) There's always some emergency that pops...

Is Egypt a rich nation?
No it isn't. Though this depends on how you define "rich." Egypt is quite affluent by African standards but remains a developing...

Why is the study of economics important?

Which countries are in the European Union?
There are 27 countries in the European Union. There were six founding members of what was then called the European Economic...

How do you calculate the equilibrium level of income?
you calculate it by adding consumption, investments, government spending, net exports and subtracting imports. EX:...

How do you create demand for your products or services?
Creating DemandThis has been a controversial question in economics. Some economists have argued that this is the role of...

How does the economics of welfare relate to the scarcity of resources?
Economics need to be studied to see where the economy is going, what can be removed from the economy and what can be added in...

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Keynes, the Return of the Master - Robert Skidelsky

Estou lendo, na verdade relendo, este livro de Robert Skidelsky, conhecido biógrafo de Keynes (em 3 volumes, depois resumido em um, para os preguiçosos), autor de diversos outros livros -- entre os quais eu aprecio particularmente The Road from Serfdom, de 1994, uma história econômica do século 20, parafraseando o título, e a história de Hayek, "into serfdom", publicado em 1944 -- mas que trata, desta vez, dos ensinamentos do velho mestre para a crise que ainda está se desenvolvendo.
Abaixo, uma resenha do conhecido economista Mankiw, da Harvard University, publicada logo depois que o livro foi lançado.

BOOKSHELF
Back In Demand: A great thinker has his admirers and detractors. Do his ideas logically cohere?
By N. GREGORY MANKIW
The Wall Street Journal, September 21, 2009 - page A17

Keynes: The Return of the Master
By Robert Skidelsky
New York: PublicAffairs, 2009, 221 pages, $25.95

John Maynard Keynes. The name, by itself, is something of a Rorschach test for economists. More than half a century after the death of this famed Cambridge University professor, he remains among the most controversial figures in the field. The recent economic crisis has raised Keynes's profile yet again and further stoked the debate over his contributions.

Most macroeconomists—that is, those who study the ups and downs of the overall economy—fall into one of two broad camps: Keynes admirers or Keynes detractors. When these groups cross paths, the result is the ivory-tower equivalent of a spitball fight.

To admirers, Keynes was nothing short of the savior of the capitalist system. His "General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money" (1936) proposed a diagnosis and remedy for the calamity known as the Great Depression. According to Keynes, economic downturns are not a fundamental indictment of the market economy. Rather, recessions and depressions arise from insufficient aggregate demand. A smart government can remedy the problem with its monetary and fiscal policy—say, by printing up some money and spending it. Once the right policies are put in place, the thinking goes, the world is safe again for free markets.

To detractors, Keynes was an economist whose reach exceeded his grasp: He tried to replace classic economic principles with new ones of his own, but what he offered was vague and incomplete. Keynes's many followers have tried to give his theory analytic rigor, but with only limited success. Despite these intellectual deficiencies, the detractors say, Keynesians recklessly push their ideas in the political arena, where they often lead to high inflation and excessive budget deficits. The fiscal policy of the Obama administration is a case in point. When the White House pushed for a massive increase in infrastructure spending to create jobs, it was taking a page from the Keynes playbook.

There is no doubt where Robert Skidelsky stands. A professor at the University of Warwick, he is the author of a magisterial three-volume biography of Keynes. After his years of research, he is a true believer. In "Keynes: The Return of the Master," Mr. Skidelsky makes the case for Keynes—not only for his place in the history of economic thought but also for his relevance today. To understand the global economic crisis of the past year, he says, we need more unadulterated Keynes.

In the Keynesian view as channeled by Mr. Skidelsky, the credit crunch happened because policy makers "succumbed to something called the efficient financial market theory: the view that financial markets could not consistently misprice assets and therefore needed little regulation." We must now aim at "treating symptoms." Thus: "Global aggregate demand is collapsing; extra spending is needed to revive it." In the long term, he says, we need "an expanded public sector, and a more modest role for economics as tutor of governments."

In his preface, Mr. Skidelsky says that he is a historian, not an economist. The book bears out the claim, in both its strengths and weaknesses. Mr. Skidelsky is most engaging when he draws on his biographical work. Keynes, we are reminded, had a fascinating life. He was a widely read intellectual who wrote accessibly for the general public. He advised world leaders on the crucial issues of the day and socialized with the artists and writers of the Bloomsbury group. But most of "Keynes" is devoted to ideas, not history, and here Mr. Skidelsky is not playing his strong suit. To economists his discussion of macroeconomic theory will seem pedestrian and imprecise. To laymen it will seem abstract and hard to follow.

As an ardent fan, Mr. Skidelsky fails to give Keynes's intellectual opponents their due. In academic circles, the most influential macroeconomist of the last quarter of the 20th century was Robert Lucas, of the University of Chicago, who won the Nobel Prize in 1995. His great contribution to the discipline was to analyze how government policies influence the economy in part through their effect on people's expectations—a lesson that Keynes would likely have appreciated but that early followers of Keynes often ignored.

Yet Mr. Skidelsky chooses to make Mr. Lucas sound like some kind of idiot savant, more interested in playing with mathematical models than in trying to understand how the world actually works. Mr. Lucas, we are told, is following in the tradition of the "French mathematician Leon Walras [who] pictured the economy as a system of simultaneous equations." The very idea is made to sound slightly crazed.

This brings us to the biggest problem with "Keynes." Mr. Skidelsky admits to being poorly trained in the tools that economists use: "I find mathematics and statistics 'challenging,' as they say, and it is too late to improve. This has, I believe, saved me from important errors of thinking."

Has it, really? Mr. Skidelsky would like to think that his math-aversion allows him to focus on the big ideas rather than being distracted by mere analytic details. But mathematics is, fundamentally, the language of logic. Modern research into Keynes's theories—I have conducted such research myself—tries to put his ideas into mathematical form precisely to figure out whether they logically cohere. It turns out that the task is not easy.

Keynesian theory is based in part on the premise that wages and prices do not adjust to levels that ensure full employment. But if recessions and depressions are as costly as they seem to be, why don't firms have sufficient incentive to adjust wages and prices quickly, to restore equilibrium? This is a classic question of macroeconomics that, despite much hard work, is yet to be fully resolved.

Which brings us to a third group of macroeconomists: those who fall into neither the pro- nor the anti-Keynes camp. I count myself among the ambivalent. We credit both sides with making legitimate points, yet we watch with incredulity as the combatants take their enthusiasm or detestation too far. Keynes was a creative thinker and keen observer of economic events, but he left us with more hard questions than compelling answers.

Mr. Mankiw, a professor of economics at Harvard University, is the author of the textbooks "Macroeconomics" and "Principles of Economics."

Política Externa do Governo Dilma: os primeiros 100 dias (11/04/2011, Uniceub-Brasilia)

Anunciando:

O curso de Relações Internacionais do UniCEUB promoverá a palestra A política externa do governo Dilma: os primeiros 100 dias, a realizar-se no dia 11 de abril. Segundo a coordenadora, professora Renata Rosa, serão discutidas as ações do comando da presidenta Dilma e o que ela fará para que seu governo possa ser um diferencial das lideranças anteriores.

Estarão presentes Mark Langeving, professor da University of Maryland e diretor da Brazil Works (Washington), Paulo Roberto de Almeida, diplomata e professor do UniCEUB, Lole Iliada Lopes, secretária de Relações Internacionais do PT e diretora da Fundação Perseu Abramo, Floriano Filho, repórter da TV Brasil. A mediadora da palestra será a professora do UniCEUB Renata de Melo Rosa.

O evento é aberto ao público e ocorrerá no auditório do bloco 3, às 19h30. Não é necessário fazer inscrição prévia.

Passaportes submissos, mas vermelhos...

Existem pessoas que nascem submissas: suponho que os antigos servos de gleba já tinham entranhada, desde muito pequenos, essa cultura da submissão, que os prendia às terras de um senhor poderoso, ao qual juravam defender e até morrer por ele, entregando grande parte de sua produção ao dito senhor.
Existem outras pessoas, ao contrário, que aprendem a ser submissas -- seja por qual motivo for: interesse pessoal, ambição de poder, espírito tacanho, desejo de agradar, whatever... -- e até passam a gostar dessa situação de total servidão, encontrando até justificativas para sua servidão voluntária. Alguns até se excedem na tarefa, o que é compreensível, em se tratando de servos voluntários. Para esses, nenhum vexame é vexame; tudo se justifica e tudo se explica: basta se enrolar na bandeira da soberania e dizer que se está servindo o interesse nacional.
As simple as that...
Paulo Roberto de Almeida

Punhos de renda
Dora Kramer
O Estado de S.Paulo, 7 de abril de 2011 – pág. A6

(...)

Grand finale. Os oito anos de submissão do Itamaraty ao personalismo de Lula não renderam ao Brasil apenas derrotas políticas e comerciais no plano externo.

Internamente o resultado da gestão Celso Amorim produziu a trapalhada final, a dois dias do fim do mandato de Lula, da concessão de passaportes diplomáticos aos herdeiros da Silva agora obrigados a devolvê-los por ordem do Ministério Público.

Tivesse o agora ex-chanceler contido seu afã de adular o chefe, teria sido um vexame a menos.

Breve Historia do Mercosul (REA) - Paulo Roberto de Almeida

A Revista Espaço Acadêmico, da qual sou "colunista" e com a qual colaboro desde seu início, acaba de publicar sua edição nº 119, Vol 10, Abril de 2011 (neste link), na qual consta este meu artigo:

Uma história do Mercosul (1): do nascimento à crise
Paulo Roberto Almeida
Revista Espaço Acadêmico, nº 119, abril de 2011, p. 106-114

Abstract:
Primeira parte de uma breve história do Mercosul, desde a fase precedente à assinatura do Tratado de Assunção à crise de 1999, que precipitou o Mercosul numa fase de divergências econômicas crescentes entre os países membros, em especial os dois maiores, com especial destaque para as restrições argentinas ao livre comércio com o Brasil.

Revista Espaço Acadêmico - revista multidisciplinar - ISSN 1519-6186 (on-line) - Departamento de Ciências Sociais - Universidade Estadual de Maringá (UEM) - Av. Colombo, 5790 - Campus Universitário 87020-900 - Maringá/PR – Brasil
blog: http://espacoacademico.wordpress.com

Full Text: PDF

De onde veio o Mercosul? De um projeto político, mas com intenções claramente econômicas de integração bilateral: a Ata para a Integração Brasil- Argentina, de 1986, estabelecendo, segundo modalidades baseadas na complementação industrial, o Programa de Integração e Cooperação Econômica (PICE), de caráter gradual, flexível e equilibrado, e prevendo tratamentos preferenciais frente a terceiros mercados. No seu âmbito foram assinadas duas dúzias de protocolos setoriais para a integração progressiva de diversos ramos da indústria e da agricultura dos dois países, assim como foram assinados, também bilateralmente, acordos de cooperação em outras áreas (como a nuclear, por exemplo).
(...)
Para ler na íntegra, clique aqui.

(E aguardem a segunda parte, talvez até uma terceira...)

O que a China quer do Brasil? E o que apavora o Brasil?

Muito frequentemente o Brasil, os brasileiros (o que me parece quase normal), mas até mesmo os melhores jornais do Brasil, como é o caso do velho Estadão, são assaltados por temores paranóicos. Infundados, em sua maior, pois concedo que existem paranóias justificadas (eu, por exemplo, junto com 190 milhões de outros brasileiros, acho que a Receita Federal está sempre tramando um golpe contra a minha renda, o meu patrimônio, minha "acumulação primitiva" de riqueza, mas deve ser simples paranóia não justificada, essa...).
Eu sempre digo que o Brasil adora o capital estrangeiro, mas detesta capitalistas estrangeiros.
Ou seja, a gente acha uma maravilha receber investimentos, capitais, dinheiros vários, tecnologia, os mais modernos gadgets da civilização industrial, mas não gostamos que tudo isso seja dado, ou trazido, por capitalistas que venham para cá ensinar o Brasil a ser um pouco menos atrasado e mais afinado com as modernidades capitalistas.
O Estadão, por exemplo, se preocupa em que os chineses estejam comprando minas e terras no Brasil, para abastecer sua voracidade industrial e alimentar de nossas matérias primas inesgotáveis...
O editorialista escreve isto:
"O risco é que complexos industriais desse tipo adquiram áreas de cultivo em território nacional além do que a lei permite."
Bem, mas se a lei fixa limites não existem riscos disso acontecer, certo? Se os chineses, ou quaisquer outros investidores movidos por intenções malévolas contra nossas riquezas inesgotáveis, comprarem além da conta, podem ser expropriados pela nossa maravilhosa, célere e justa Justiça (ou será que estou enganado?).
E se eles comprarem sem que a lei o permitisse, qual seria o risco? Para nós não tenho certeza de que exista algum, mas sempre existem paranóicos que ficam pensando no que poderia acontecer a partir de tão baixas intenções. Os chineses iriam fugir com as terras? Deixá-las improdutivas? Fazer um parque de diversões em lugar de utilizá-la para aquele famoso "fim social" definido na Constituição, que seria o de produzir alimentos?
Essa paranóia, e essa jabuticaba da finalidade social da terra, me parecem incompatíveis com pessoas inteligentes, com países modernos, enfim, com a simples racionalidade econômica...
Somos atrasados mentalmente, mais do que materialmente.
Paulo Roberto de Almeida

O que a China busca no Brasil
Editorial - O Estado de S.Paulo
06 de abril de 2011

Com base em estudo recente do Conselho Empresarial Brasil-China (CEBC), aquele país seria o que mais investiu no Brasil em 2010. Segundo o documento, os investimentos chineses no País foram de US$ 12,9 bilhões no ano passado, o que representaria 26,6% do total de investimentos estrangeiros diretos no País em 2010 (US$ 48,46 bilhões). O levantamento, porém, deve ser examinado com cuidado, uma vez que muitos dos investimentos mencionados como feitos no Brasil não passam, na realidade, de compra de participação em companhias internacionais aqui instaladas. Não há melhor exemplo desse tipo de investimento do que os US$ 7,1 bilhões gastos pela estatal chinesa da área petrolífera, a Sinopec Corp, na aquisição de 40% da Repsol Brasil, controlada pelo capital hispano-argentino. A operação pode permitir aumento do capital da subsidiária brasileira para financiar sua atuação na camada do pré-sal, mas não se trata de um investimento estrangeiro direto, com entrada de capital. Houve outros negócios desse gênero, mas, mesmo não computando tais operações, a China, a partir do ano passado, vem se credenciando como um dos maiores investidores no País, o que pode ser útil ao desenvolvimento econômico nacional, desde que as leis em vigor sejam cumpridas e as autoridades brasileiras não se deixem levar pela ingenuidade.

"A China vem consolidando há alguns anos uma base internacional de matérias-primas e o Brasil passou a fazer parte desta base de fornecedores", diz o estudo. De fato, o maior volume de investimentos provenientes da China tem sido voltado para as áreas de petróleo, mineração e produção agrícola. Estatais chinesas já adquiriram reservas de minério de ferro de milhões de toneladas, em Minas Gerais e na Bahia, associadas ou não ao capital nacional. O níquel e a cadeia de produção do alumínio estão também na mira das gigantes estatais da China.

No setor do agronegócio, ainda há pouco foi anunciado um investimento de US$ 4 bilhões pela Chongqing Grain Group, na instalação de um polo de esmagamento de soja em Barreiras (BA), possibilitando a exportação de maior volume de óleo de soja. O risco é que complexos industriais desse tipo adquiram áreas de cultivo em território nacional além do que a lei permite.

O recente parecer da Advocacia-Geral da União, reafirmando a validade da Lei 5.709/71, que estabelece limites para a posse de terras por estrangeiros, tem caráter geral, mas certamente levou em conta o crescente interesse chinês pela aquisição de reservas minerais e de áreas agricultáveis no País.

Os setores de energia elétrica e de telecomunicações exercem forte atração sobre as companhias chinesas, não havendo barreiras à sua entrada no País. É uma situação muito diferente daquela com a que se deparam empresas brasileiras dispostas a investir em setores considerados estratégicos por Pequim. Como o boicote à Embraer na China deixa patente, não há reciprocidade de tratamento nesses casos.

O estudo destaca que a preferência das companhias chinesas é por fusões e aquisições, que correspondem a 83% dos investimentos que têm feito no Brasil. A participação no capital pode ser feita no exterior ou no próprio país. Não há números que permitam avaliar se os chineses se contentam com uma participação minoritária, que deveria facilitar, segundo ainda a CEBC, a superação de "diferenças culturais". Pelo que a prática tem mostrado, nem sempre essa forma de operar prevalece.

Como consta do estudo, somente 11,5% dos investimentos chineses no Brasil são "joint ventures", aliando o capital de fora ao nacional. Uma terceira modalidade é denominada "greenfield" (construção de uma unidade em território estrangeiro), sendo exemplo o aporte de US$ 400 milhões pela montadora Cherry, que vai produzir automóveis no País. Esse segmento representa 5,2% do total de investimentos da China no País e, evidentemente, a Cherry veio para o País para disputar o mercado interno, já superabastecido de veículos, não para montar aqui uma plataforma de exportação.

Salvando os bancos e enterrando a economia (americana, por enquanto...)

Conclusões devastadoras do economista John Taylor, autor da famosa "Taylor Rule" -- procurem saber o que é isso, no Google, vocês vão gostar -- e ex-Secretário de Assuntos Internacionais do Tesouro dos EUA, em seu depoimento ao Congresso (Senate Committee on Banking...), em 17 de março, sobre os resultados decepcionantes, e até profundamente negativos, do TARP, ou seja, o programa oficial do Tesouro para salvar os grandes bancos (considerados "too big to fail"), na sequência da crise financeira de 2008-2009.
Transcrevo apenas partes de seu depoimento (que pode ser lido na íntegra aqui):

(...)
Recall that the original idea of TARP, upon which the TARP was sold, was to relieve certain financial institutions of their troubled assets by buying the assets from the institutions. Few understood how this idea would work—how the price would be determined for example—which added to the uncertainty. This original idea was changed after the TARP was enacted and the government announced that it would simply inject capital into the banks.
(...)
It should also be noted that many of those economists who view the TARP as having a beneficial effect argue that there were much better alternatives that could have avoided the financial panic and would have been far less costly with fewer long-term side effects.
(...)
In my view the TARP was not effective in stabilizing the financial system, especially if one takes into account the panic caused by its chaotic rollout and the fact that other actions could have been taken. Indeed other actions were taken, including the Fed’s support for the commercial paper market and money market mutual funds, and I believe these were effective in mitigating the panic, which evidence shows was in part caused by the TARP.
(...)
Legacy Costs
Although disagreement remains about whether TARP was destabilizing or stabilizing in the short run, there is very little disagreement about the longer-run legacy costs which are substantial, long-lasting, and already being felt.
In January [2011] the Special Investigator General of the TARP listed these costs:9
- “damage to Government credibility that has plagued the program,”
- “failure of programs designed to help Main Street rather than Wall Street,”
- “moral hazard and potentially disastrous consequences associated with the continued
existence of financial institutions that are ‘too big to fail’”
(...)
And just yesterday [March 16, 2011] the Congressional Oversight Panel released its final report listing these additional effects of TARP:
- “continuing distortions in the market”
- “public anger toward policymakers,”
- “a lack of full transparency and accountability.”
To these I would add that the TARP established an unfortunate precedent of heavy government intervention in the operations of private businesses along with the use of a great deal of power.
(...)
Most of these legacy costs will be a drag on the U.S. financial system and economy for years to come unless the precedents are reversed, perhaps through legislation. Some argue that the costs of TARP are small because estimates show that the government will lose less money than budget experts originally thought. But government programs can cause much harm to the economy and to people even if they raise revenue. For example, inflation is enormously costly to society even though it is a source of revenue to the government.
Conclusion
In sum, in my view there is no convincing evidence to support the view that the TARP had a stabilizing effect on the financial markets or the U.S. economy. On the contrary there is evidence that the chaotic rollout of the TARP exacerbated the crisis. Even if one can find some stabilizing effects, it is clear that other actions could have been taken that did not have these rollout costs. Finally, there is a considerable consensus among economists that the legacy costs of TARP are large, especially the perpetuation and amplification of the destabilizing “too big to fail” problem in our financial system caused by the expectations of more bailouts in the future.
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Aos que desejarem ler mais sobre John Taylor e seus trabalhos acadêmicos, recomendo uma visita ao seu blog: http://johnbtaylorsblog.blogspot.com/

Não é preciso lembrar que o governo brasileiro pratica TARPs a torto e a direito, entregando dinheiro alegremente a quem já é rico -- Eike Batista acaba de levar 800 milhões do BNDES --, concedendo mais de 250 bilhões ao BNDES para este entregar aos industriais amigos a 6% e outras benesses do gênero.
Nós somos os salvadores contumazes do capitalismo tupiniquim, com TARP ou sem TARP...