Ministros renunciam... Epa!!!!

Já no Brasil....

Ministros renunciam na Índia após serem flagrados vendo pornografia

Três ministros assistiram ao que seria um filme pornográfico no celular durante sessão legislativa

India-Brazil: same fight, same goals in Defence policy?

Significativo...

06/02/2012 India, Brazil discuss defence cooperation - PTI

Text of report by Indian news agency PTI

New Delhi, 6 February: India and Brazil on Monday [6 February] held discussions to enhance their bilateral cooperation in areas of defence and regional security.

"Defence Minister A K Antony held talks with his Brazilian counterpart Celso Amorim and had candid discussions on bilateral defence cooperation and regional security issues," the Ministry said in a release.

Amorim is on a five-day visit to India which started on February 4. After taking over as Defence Minister in his country recently, this is Amorim's first foreign visit.

The visiting Minister emphasised that due to the high importance accorded to New Delhi by his country, he chose to visit India first, officials said.

In the 40-minute meeting between the two Ministers, senior Brazilian officials along with its Air Force chief and Indian officials also took part.

The Brazilian Defence Minister will visit HAL in Bangalore on Tuesday. India has bought six Embraer aircraft from Brazil to develop its indigenous Airborne Early Warning and Control System aircraft.

Top Ministers and bureaucrats also use the Brazilian-origin Embraer aircraft for visits within the country and the neighbouring nations.

Source: PTI news agency, New Delhi, in English 1521gmt 06 Feb 12

A geopolitica confusa de Mister Brzezinski: poderes declinantes nao sabem o que fazer...

Mister Brzezinski parece saber o que fazer, mas não sabe bem com quais aliados pode contar...
O problema é que essas digressões semi-acadêmicas nunca funcionam na prática...
Paulo Roberto de Almeida 

06/02/2012 Italian aide argues case for expanding Atlantic community southward

Text of report by Italian privately-owned centrist newspaper La Stampa website, on 6 February

[Commentary by Italian Foreign Under Secretary Marta Dassu: "It Is Crucial To Expand the West"]

Dear Editor,

Is the West fated to inevitably decline? Writing in yesterday's edition of La Stampa, Zbigniew Brzezinski chipped into this now time-honoured debate - aggravated by the financial crisis - by responding in the negative. But he added that there are two conditions which must be fulfilled if we are to prevent that decline. The first is domestic and it entails the United States rediscovering the reasons for its "primacy" (innovation, education, and a dynamic society); while the second belongs to the field of "strategic visions" - and the vision offered by the former national security adviser is both simple and direct: If it is to avoid losing its relevancy and its influence in the Asian century, the West needs to expand. But to expand in which direction? In book recently published in Washington, Brzezinski argues that one might envision the "broader"  West, a couple of decades from now, as comprising a head that is still American (on condition, of course, that the United States also does its homework) and a heart that is European (on condition that the EU becomes a genuine political Union), with arms and legs stretching out towards Russia (on condition that it opts for full democracy), towards Turkey (on condition that it becomes more European than neo-Ottoman), and towards old and new Asian allies bent on balancing China's weight. Is that a strategic vision, or is it a mere theory that will never be implemented in practice?

The truth of the matter is that, at a time when the financial crisis is sorely testing liberal democracies and the combination between capitalism and authoritarianism is starting to be seen as an alternative model, it is crucial that we rethink the West's borders. In Brzezinski's opinion, it is obvious that the United States' comparative strength be rebuilt first and foremost from the inside, just as the comparative strength of the Europeans demands a solider Union. But it is clear also that the old transatlantic relationship is no longer sufficient in the face of a shift in economic, demographic, and financial power towards new countries. From his standpoint, expanding the West towards the Eurasian continent is the strategic priority.

Brzezinski's mental map is still "horizontal": It goes from west to east, and along with the impact of China's rise, it continues to reflect the last century's unresolved problems: Integrating Russia into the Western community is one of hopes that has remained at least partially unfulfilled since 1991. Russia's veto on the resolution faulting Syria in the United Nations confirms the gap that still exists - and with bitter consequences, in this case for the people of Syria who have been exposed to brutal repression for months.

Yet there is also a "vertical" map worth exploring and it involves the possibility of bringing into the fold the Atlantic's southern shores, where potentially strong economic powers such as Brazil are theoretically equipped with Western democratic "software" in the form of the historical and cultural roots that shape their identity. In other words, the broader West could have an important leg stretching not only further east but also further south, and the strategic vision could comprise a 21st century "panatlantic" community capable of benefiting from tangible resources (the additional thrust of an emerging area) and of using its common cultural roots to good effect. Keeping the Atlantic alive is even more important a precondition for the Europeans than it is for the United States if they wish to continue carrying weight in the Pacific century. That is one of several reasons why proposals regarding the establishment of something akin to a transatlantic free-trade area should be assessed not only in economic terms (i.e. in terms of their cost and benefit in different areas of the economy) but also in terms of their strategic importance.

Having said that, the vision which Brzezinski prescribes for the United States quite rightly views the Far East as a region where, with or without the global economy, traditional geopolitics continues to matter. The economic interdependence between Washington and Beijing or the importance of commercial ties between China and Germany have not done away with the 20th century fault lines, with dynamics based on deterrence and military balances. In light of this, the "balancing act" which Brzezinski recommends that the United States perform in Asia is still necessary, and indeed the US defence review is moving in that direction. But that is another reason why the Europeans should adopt an increasing share of the responsibility on their borders, in North Africa and in the Balkans. Thus if the West is to continue to wield influence at the global level, it must not simply expand, it must also specialize.

Of course, none of this is going to work unless the first condition that Brzezinski sets the United States - a condition, incidentally , which applies to Western democracies in general, i.e. that they impart a fresh boost both to themselves and to their economies - withstands the test of concrete implementation.

As Niall Ferguson argues in Aspenia, one of the causes behind the West's relative decline is its tendency to shy away from using its winning weapons - competition, scientific research, the work ethic - and even to start questioning its own political systems. The revolution of "growing" expectations that guaranteed the Western model's success over the past two decades, has turned into its opposite, and the economic, political, and social repercussions of that transformation have yet to be gauged.

Source: La Stampa website, Turin, in Italian 6 Feb 12 p 33

Companion to Marxist Economy: uma digressao sobre o nada...

Alguém ainda acredita que a "economia política" marxista sirva para outra coisa senão filosofia política?

Quantos departamentos sérios de economia usam, de fato, QUALQUER categoria econômica marxista -- mais valia, lei tendencia da baixa da taxa de lucro, pauperizacao, MDM, etc -- para qualquer outra coisa senão digressões inúteis no campo da economia?

NUNCA vi qualquer economista digno desse nome usar o ferramental marxista, a não ser para fazer política...

Isso não funciona em NENHUM departamento de economia.

Melhor ver com os Fefelechs da vida...

Paulo Roberto de Almeida 

	The Elgar Companion To Marxist Economics Edited by Ben Fine, Professor of Economics and Alfredo Saad-Filho, Professor of Political Economy, School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, UK with Marco Boffo, PhD candidate, School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, UK January 2012 432 pp Hardback 978 1 84844 537 6 Hardback $225.00 on-line price $202.50
	Description This Companion takes stock of the trajectory, achievements, shortcomings and prospects of Marxist political economy. It reflects the contributors’ shared commitment to bringing the methods, theories and concepts of Marx himself to bear across a wide range of topics and perspectives, and it provides a testimony to the continuing purpose and vitality of Marxist political economy. Contents Contributors include: G. Albo, R. Albritton, D. Ankarloo, S.J. Ashman, A.J. Ayers, R. Balakrishnan, J. Banaji, S. Bisnath, M. Boffo, T.J. Byres, A. Campbell, P. Cerni, P. Chattopadhyay, S. Clarke, A. Colás, G.C. Comninel, M. Di Meglio, P.L. dos Santos, G. Duménil, B. Fine, J. Ghosh, G. Hoe-Gimm, H. Goodacre, B. Gruffydd-Jones, B. Harriss-White, K. Hart, M. Itoh, H. Jeon, B. Jessop, D. Johnston, R. Kiely, S. Knafo, D. Laibman, D. Lévy, D. Lo, T. Marois, P. Masina, S.D. Mavroudeas, D. Milonakis, S. Mohun, S. Newman, P. Patnaik, U. Patnaik, L. Pradella, H. Radice, A. Saad-Filho, S. Savran, G. Slater, T. Smith, E. Swyngedouw, B. Tinel, A. Toscano, J. Weeks, E. Wood, A. Zack-Williams, P. Zarembka, Y. Zhang This Companion takes stock of the trajectory, achievements, shortcomings and prospects of Marxist political economy. It reflects the contributors’ shared commitment to bringing the methods, theories and concepts of Marx himself to bear across a wide range of topics and perspectives, and it provides a testimony to the continuing purpose and vitality of Marxist political economy. As a whole, this volume analyzes Marxist political economy in three areas: the critique of mainstream economics in all of its versions; the critical presence of Marxist political economy within, and its influence upon, each of the social science disciplines; and, cutting across these, the analysis of specific topics that straddle disciplinary boundaries. Some of the contributions offer an exposition of basic concepts, accessible to the general reader, laying out Marx’s own contribution, its significance, and subsequent positions and debates with and within Marxist political economy. The authors offer assessments of historical developments to and within capitalism, and of its current character and prospects. Other chapters adopt a mirror-image approach of pinpointing the conditions of contemporary capitalism as a way of interrogating the continuing salience of Marxist analysis. This volume will inform and inspire a new generation of students and scholars to become familiar with Marxist political economy from an enlightened and unprejudiced position, and to use their knowledge as both a resource and gateway to future study. Full table of contents Contents: Introduction Ben Fine and Alfredo Saad-Filho 1. Accumulation of Capital Paul Zarembka 2. The Agrarian Question and the Peasantry Terence J. Byres 3. Analytical Marxism Marco Boffo 4. Anthropology Keith Hart 5. Capital Jayati Ghosh 6. Capitalism Ellen Wood 7. Centrally Planned Economy Dic Lo and Yu Zhang 8. Class and Class Struggle Utsa Patnaik 9. Classical Political Economy Hugh Goodacre 10. Combined and Uneven Development Samantha J. Ashman 11. Commodification and Commodity Fetishism Robert Albritton 12. Competition Paresh Chattopadhyay 13. Consumerism Paula Cerni 14. Contemporary Capitalism Greg Albo 15. Crisis Theory Simon Clarke 16. Dependency Theory John Weeks 17. Ecology and the Environment Barbara Harriss-White 18. Economic Reproduction and the Circuits of Capital Ben Fine 19. Exploitation and Surplus Value Ben Fine 20. Feminist Economics Radhika Balakrishnan and Savitri Bisnath 21. Feudalism George C. Comninel 22. Finance, Finance Capital, and Financialisation Thomas Marois 23. Friedrich Engels Paresh Chattopadhyay 24. Geography Erik Swyngedouw 25. Global Commodity Chains and Global Value Chains Susan Newman 26. Globalisation and Imperialism Ray Kiely 27. International Political Economy Alejandro Colás 28. Karl Marx Lucia Pradella 29. Knowledge Economy Heesang Jeon 30. Labour, Labour Power, and the Division of Labour Bruno Tinel 31. Labour Theory of Value Ben Fine 32. Market Socialism Makoto Itoh 33. Marx and Underdevelopment Mauro di Meglio and Pietro Masina 34. Marxism and History George C. Comninel 35. Method of Political Economy Branwen Gruffydd-Jones 36. Mode of Production Jairus Banaji 37. Money Paulo L. dos Santos 38. Neoliberalism Gérard Duménil and Dominique Lévy 39. Neoclassical Economics Dimitris Milonakis 40. Neo-Ricardianism Sungur Savran 41. New Technology and the 'New Economy’ Tony Smith 42. Political Science Alison J. Ayers 43. Population and Migration Deborah Johnston 44. Productive and Unproductive Labour Simon Mohun 45. Race Alfred Zack-Williams 46. Radical Political Economy in the United States Al Campbell 47. The Rate of Profit Simon Mohun 48. The Regulation Approach Stavros D. Mavroudeas 49. Rent and Landed Property Erik Swyngedouw 50. The Social Structures of Accumulation Approach Stavros D. Mavroudeas 51. Socialism, Communism and Revolution Al Campbell 52. Sociology Alberto Toscano 53. The State Bob Jessop 54. 'Transformation Problem’ Alfredo Saad-Filho 55. The Transition from Feudalism to Capitalism David Laibman 56. Transnational Corporations Hugo Radice 57. Unemployment Gary Slater 58. Value Form Approach Samuel Knafo 59. Vladimir I Lenin Prabhat Patnaik 60. The Welfare State Daniel Ankarloo 61. World Economy Gong Hoe-Gimm References Index

Michael Mussa: um analista critico dos sistemas financeiros (RIP)

Eu li muitos trabalhos de Michael Mussa, tanto quando estava em Washington, quanto depois, pela internet.
Superb, como diriam os connoisseurs...
Meus sentimentos pela perda...
Paulo Roberto de Almeida 

Michael Mussa (1944–2012): Challenging Conventional Wisdom

by Flemming Larsen | January 30th, 2012 | 11:01 am 

I had the privilege to work with Mike for close to nine exciting and fulfilling years.

Mike made the Research Department at the International Monetary Fund (IMF) relevant and respected, both inside and outside the Fund. Above all, he gave meaning to the Economic Counselor role by fulfilling his duties with incisive analyses and policy advice.

From the very start, he challenged conventional IMF wisdom.

He effectively used wit to underscore his points. When some Executive Directors criticized Mike for advocating policy activism and fine tuning, he explained how he would use the gas pedal in his old Buick to regulate its speed.

He was particularly critical of IMF surveillance of exchange rates, which was “as firm as an overripe avocado.” His seminars on financial markets for the Executive Board were some of his finest moments.

He distrusted financial markets. Whenever a new financial crisis erupted, he would proclaim “happy days are here again.” His judgment that “banks are dangerous” was proven right again and again.

On a personal note, I still remember the observation of our youngest son, then in junior high, who attended one of our press conferences on the World Economic Outlook: In listening to Mike he discovered that economics could be funny.

Mike liked to celebrate birthdays and special accomplishments, and his senior staff frequently enjoyed his generosity when he hosted a dinner party in his Watergate apartment. He would always prepare the dinner himself, and treat his guests to a remarkable selection of fine wines from his private cellar. On one occasion, after learning that my wife Birte was born in 1945, he served a 1945 Cheval Blanc.

Because Mike really did take his role as Counselor seriously, relations with management were not always easy. His views were not always convenient, but the Executive Board learned to appreciate Mike.

The author is former deputy director of the Research Department at the International Monetary Fund.

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Michael Mussa (1944–2012): Integrity, Courage, and a Gift for Friendship

by Morris Goldstein | January 27th, 2012 

I have been a close friend of Michael Mussa for over twenty years. When Mike joined the International Monetary Fund (IMF) as Economic Counselor and Director of Research in 1991, I was his deputy. When I left the Fund in 1994, he and I stayed in frequent contact, including socially. And when Mike left the Fund in 2001, I helped persuade him to join me as Senior Fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics, where he worked for the last ten years of his career. During the past two decades, I spent more time working with and just hanging out with Mike than probably anybody else.

Mike was a “character” in the best sense of the word. To me, four things stood out. First, there was the soaring intellect. Mike used that horsepower to very good effect to analyze key issues in economics—be they theory or policy. Mike was clearly one of most talented international economists of his generation. No matter what your political persuasion or intellectual orientation, you could not be involved seriously in international economics over the past forty years without being aware of, and learning something from, what Mike wrote and said. Whether it was what determined the fundamental behavior of exchange rates and the balance of payments, or the properties of different currency regimes, or evaluating the performance of the Federal Reserve, or projecting what the recovery from the global economic and financial crisis of 2007–09 would look like, or what an emerging economy in crisis needed to do to exit from the crisis, nobody was better at cutting to the core of the problem and at dispensing sensible advice. As Sir Mervyn King, Governor of the Bank of England, put it in a recent tribute: “… he will be remembered for his contribution to economics as a rigorous discipline and to policymaking as an exercise in applying rigorous thought to the problems of the day.” I do not mean to suggest, of course, that Mike’s insights were restricted to economics. As many of you will know, Mike also had a commanding knowledge of history, politics, and mathematics—to say nothing of his true passion, namely, wine.

A second hallmark of Mike’s character was his integrity and courage. In short, Mike simply would not allow himself to be intimidated by anyone. He would say what he thought—whether the counterparty was a first-year graduate student, a Nobel laureate, the IMF Executive Board, the Peterson staff at Friday lunch meetings, more than one hundred of the world’s most senior economic officials attending the Federal Reserve’s Jackson Hole annual symposium, or the President of the United States. Mike was fond of quoting Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan that everyone was entitled to their own opinion—but not to their own facts. When Mike thought that the truth was being assailed by nonsense, he would invariably stand up and set the record straight. This characteristic did not endear Mike to everyone, but over time he developed a reputation for being a straight shooter that only increased the demand for his services. Mike was a good businessman and he made a good business of “telling like it is” to economic policymakers all over the world.

Defining characteristic number three was Mike’s terrific sense of humor—something he employed not only to entertain his friends but also to help communicate his economic policy messages. By now, you have probably seen some of Mike’s more famous quips in the obituaries that appeared in the Wall Street Journal, in the New York Times, and in the Washington Post. Just to convey the flavor, I mention here a few of my personal favorites. On watching teams of officials preparing to intervene in a crisis: “Some of them seem more excited than a personal injury lawyer at a six-car crackup.” On the “catch and release” policy of fishing guides: “This has nothing to do with conservation: The guides simply realize that if there are no fish, there is no demand for fishing guides.” On standing up for yourself: “If you don’t want to be known as a doormat, don’t let people walk all over you.” On policymaking in the nation’s capital: “In Washington DC, truth is just another special interest—and not a particularly well-financed one.” On the charge during Congressional testimony that he was a hired gun: “At least I hit what I aim at.” And on the relationship between regulators and the banks they regulate: “The time has long since passed for public officials and central bankers to stop kissing and start kicking the posteriors of bankers whose self-interest diverges substantially from the public interest.” Some of my fondest memories of Mike are of the two of us sitting in my office or his telling stories, jokes, and gossip until—on our best days —we were laughing so hard that tears were streaming down both our faces. When I retired from the Fund after 25 years of service, I offered the view that nobody was more fun to work with than Mike; ten years of working together at Peterson only reinforced that view.

Last but not least, I want to pay testimony to Mike’s kindness and loyalty. Once you were a good friend of Mike’s, he was there to support you whenever you needed it—whether that meant writing letters of recommendation, arguing on your behalf to whomever, offering you suggestions for making your latest paper much better, trying to cheer you up on the phone, or holding a dinner party to help you celebrate one of your personal milestones. When my wife died suddenly and unexpectedly five and a half years ago after 36 years of marriage, Mike was there for me—everything from letting colleagues know about funeral arrangements, to driving out to my house frequently to see how I was doing. When his long-time administrative officer at the Fund had a serious operation after she and he had left the Fund, Mike kept on the case until he was sure she was out of danger. I know that Mike has likewise helped his brother, Roger, through some of his most difficult challenges. There are more than a few international economists who are where they are today professionally in part because of Mike’s mentorship and support. I would estimate that more than 90 percent of the great dinner parties that Mike had at his Watergate apartment—serving the best wines in the world—were not for government bigwigs, but rather for Mike’s friends.

With Michael Mussa’s passing, the world has indeed lost one of its finest international economists. Yet what seems even more painful today is that some of us have lost a truly wonderful friend.

This is a revised version of the eulogy for Michael Mussa delivered by the author on January. 25, 2012, in Los Angeles.

Dos Piratas do Caribe aos Piratas da Somalia: custos

Outros piratas, em outras paragens, alguns até em terra firme, também provocam um prejuízo dos diabos.
Só consultando os jornais, eu posso falar de vários navios piratas navegando em terra firme...

Higher speeds, hired guns drive Somali piracy cost

By Peter Apps, Political Risk Correspondent

(Reuters) - Somali piracy in the Indian Ocean costs the global economy some $7 billion a year, a study said on Wednesday, with ships forced to travel faster over longer routes and increasingly hire armed security guards.

"The question for the shipping industry is how long this is sustainable," said Anna Bowden, program manager for the research by the U.S.-based One Earth Future foundation.

For the last five years, a few hundred pirates sailing from a handful of towns in the Somali enclave of Puntland have pushed ever deeper into the Indian Ocean despite the dozens of international warships trying to stop them.

The study showed world governments spending at least $1.3 billion trying to control the problem, a figure dwarfed by shipping industry costs estimated at up to $5.5 billion.

The biggest single item was the $2.7 billion it costs for lone container ships to hurry through at much higher, and much less economic, speeds. Non-container ships with less flexibility to increase speed were adopting other costly strategies.

Shippers also spent more than $1 billion on private security guards, often armed, a figure that was rising sharply, the study showed. Half of all ships were carrying guards by the end of last year, against an average of 25 percent for the whole year.

That means the private security companies, many based in Britain or elsewhere in northern Europe, that combat the pirates were earning much more than the pirates themselves.

COMPLACENCY SETTING IN?

The report estimated the total paid in ransoms at $160 million although the average ransom for a ship paid in 2011 rose from $4 million to $5 million.

Whilst slightly fewer ships were taken in 2011, the amount of time vessels and crews were held hostage kept increasing, as did the level of violence used in attacks and against hostages.

Nonetheless,, protective measures have proved relatively effective, the study said. So far, pirates have never seized a ship travelling faster than 18 knots. Armed private security guards also had a 100 percent success rate in protecting ships.

Shippers have added barb wire and an array of other measures to vessels, including "citadels" - armored safe rooms in which crews can shelter from attack until naval help arrives.

That has helped bring down insurance premiums, although shippers are still paying some $635 million in extra premiums.

Re-routing ships to hug the Indian coast to avoid the mostly unpatrolled Indian Ocean cost $486-680 million. Crews demanded some $195 million in higher wages to transit the region.

"A major risk for 2012 is that complacency sets in if we think piracy is now under control," said Jens Vestergaard Madsen, a senior researcher on the project. "Pirates were less successful in 2011, but the piracy problem is still not resolved. Ninety nine percent of these costs are spent mitigating the problem, not resolving it."

In its first attempt to put a price tag on Somali piracy a year ago, the foundation estimated an annual global cost of $7-12 billion.

This year's estimate was at the lower end of that range partly because of a better dataset and partly because some numbers used earlier, such as estimates from insurance firms of ransom costs, appeared unrealistically high, the authors said.

The full report can be found at oceansbeyondpiracy.org/

Malucos tambem existem por aqui: no TCU frances, por exemplo...

O Tribunal de Contas francês precisa se decidir: ou é contra a austeridade, ou é a favor dos déficits.
Condenar a austeridade e pedir redução de déficit, ao mesmo tempo, é completamente contraditório.
Deviam pedir um exame psiquiátrico nesses controleurs de comptes...
Paulo Roberto de Almeida

La Cour des comptes demande plus de rigueur

France Info, le 08 février 2012 à 18h50
Le catalogue à la Prévert de la Cour des comptes
L'événement du jour c'est bien sûr la publication du rapport annuel de la Cour des comptes
La Cour épingle cette année les autoroutes ferroviaires qui n'ont pas fait leurs preuves, le manque  de rigueur budgétaire à la Banque de France et la mauvaise gestion des stocks d'or, la fraude à la taxe carbone qui a couté plus d'un milliard et demi d'euros au budget de l'Etat, les insuffisances dans la construction de logements sociaux, les errements des communes balnéaires de la région Languedoc Roussillon, le manque de réformes à la rédaction de France Télévisions, et l'échec annoncé d'un parc touristique en Alsace. Il y en a pour tous les goûts dans ce rapport qui tient en deux volumes.
Reste une critique sur le fond de la politique budgétaire française : la Cour estime que la succession de plans d'austérité nuit à la croissance tout en saluant les efforts faits pour réduire le déficit.