The progressive forces of the nation that wish to end corruption, the resumption of economic growth, the development of Brazil on a new basis and the defense of national sovereignty should unite with efforts to choose a candidate for the presidency of the Republic committed to the proposals presented in this article and defeat the retrograde forces that wish to maintain the status quo. It is urgent, therefore, to launch a candidate for the presidency of the Republic who undertakes to break with neoliberalism and put into practice the strategies suggested in this article.

1. 1
THE PRESIDENT NECESSARY TO BRAZIL
Fernando Alcoforado *
The practice has demonstrated the unfeasibility of the neoliberal economic model in
Brazil implemented by the Fernando Collor government and maintained by the Itamar
Franco, Fernando Henrique Cardoso, Lula, Dilma Rousseff and Michel Temer
governments. The neoliberal model is impracticable because from the 1990s until the
present moment it has presented successive deficits in the balance of payments due to
the growth of remittances of profits and dividends by multinational companies and
foreign direct investment increased vertiginously during the period to cover the deficit
of the balance of payments in current account contributing to the denationalization of
the Brazilian economy. The deterioration of the balance of payments has made it
imperative to attract foreign capital, contributing to the denationalization of the
Brazilian economy and increasing Brazil's dependence on foreign countries.
Brazil's economic growth was extremely low, 1.45% a year, showing an unsatisfactory
performance because it does not present, in a sustainable way, rates above 5% a year,
necessary for the generation of employment and income in Brazil. The neoliberal model
also contributed to the process of deindustrialization in Brazil, which declined to the
1956 level (13.75% of GDP- Gross Domestic Product) as a result of the inability of
Brazilian industry to compete with imported products with the opening of the economy
to foreign capital.
The neoliberal model contributed to the insufficiency of public and private savings in
Brazil, which should be around 25% of GDP in order to achieve economic growth of
5% per year and correspond to 17.2% of GDP. The rate of public investment in Brazil
(1.09% of GDP) was very low due to the excessive commitment of the Republic's
budget to the payment of interest and amortization of the domestic public debt, which
was R$ 62 billion at the end of the Itamar Franco administration and reached over R$ 3
trillion in the Michel Temer government.
The policy of privatization of state-owned enterprises inaugurated in the Fernando
Collor government and deepened in the Fernando Henrique Cardoso government was
resumed by Dilma Roussef and Michel Temer governments. The so-called private
public partnership (PPP) put into practice by the government Rousseff was nothing less
than the new name given to the privatization process of ports, airports, highways, etc.
The neoliberal model also contributed to the explosion of domestic and foreign public
debt and worsening of the public sector financial crisis due to the fact that the federal
government spent more than tax collection accumulating debts that are among the
largest in the emerging world.
The allocation of budget resources for the payment of interest and amortizations of
domestic public debt was increasing. The largest expenditures of the Brazilian
government foreseen are with interest and debt repayments corresponding to 45% of the
budget, with social security corresponding to 22% of the budget and transfers to States
and Municipalities corresponding to 10% of the budget. In addition to high public debt
service payments, the high basic rate of the economy (Selic) adopted by the central bank
of the federal government, the fifth largest in the entire world economy, as well as the
growing public sector deficit contributed decisively to the continued increase of public
debt in Brazil.

2. 2
The fact that almost half of the Union's budget is destined to pay interest and
amortizations of domestic and foreign debts with a tendency to grow in the coming
years will result in the increasing incapacity of the Brazilian government at all levels
(federal, state and municipal levels) to invest in the solution of the problems of
economic and social infrastructure and to promote the development of the Country. The
neoliberal model also contributed to the failure of the governmental social policy that
translates in the fact that it did not promote the true social inclusion of the poor
population with their insertion into the labor market as a consequence of GDP growth,
that is, of the increase in national wealth. There was a false social inclusion because it
occurred with the granting of "crumbs" to 50 million poor Brazilians through the “Bolsa
Família” income transfer program with Brazilian treasury resources.
The failure of the neoliberal model in the social plan is also materialized in the fact that
the real unemployment rate corresponded to 20.8% of the economically active
population, contrary to the official rate of 5.3% of IBGE and 10.5% of the DIEESE
registered in 2014. Currently, unemployment reaches about 13 million workers as a
consequence of the recession that has hit the Brazilian economy since 2014. The
precariousness of the public services of education, health, public transportation, basic
sanitation and housing has made Brazil ranked in the last place in the world as provider
of these poor public services to the population. In order to complete the serious social
situation in Brazil, it was observed that there is a high level of crime in which the
country has the highest rates in the world, with an annual rate of approximately 22
homicides per 100,000 inhabitants, while the United States and France, for example ,
recorded 6 and 0.7 murders, respectively.
The neoliberal model did not provide the conditions to overcome existing regional
inequalities. The regional inequalities in Brazil are quite high. The Southeast region
accounts for 59% of Brazil's GDP, while the South region participates with 16%, the
Northeast region with 13%, the Central-West region with 7% and the North region with
5%. There is an excessive economic concentration in the Southeast of the Country. The
neoliberal model has not been able to reduce the aggression that is committed to the
Brazilian environment. Brazil is the 4th largest polluter of the planet and is responsible
for the global emission of 5.4% of greenhouse gases. Almost 25% of national emissions
come from modern industry and agriculture, and 75% come from traditional agriculture
and inefficient or predatory logging. 75.4% of greenhouse gas emissions in Brazil result
from deforestation and burning, 22% from burning fossil fuels, 1.6% from industrial
processes and 1% from other causes.
This is, therefore, the legacy of the neoliberal model of 1990 until the present moment
of serious consequences for Brazil. The economic and social crisis that affects Brazil at
the moment must be debited to the neoliberal model adopted by the governments of
Fernando Collor to Michel Temer. The maintenance of the neoliberal model will
translate into deepening recession, widespread corporate failure, mass unemployment,
deindustrialization and denationalization of the Brazilian economy and, consequently,
greater subordination of the country in relation to the outside world. A government led
by a president who is seriously committed to defending national sovereignty, Brazil's
progress, the social well-being of its population and sustainable development must
necessarily repel this scenario by replacing the neoliberal economic model with another
that corresponds to the interests of the Brazilian population with the government
exerting an effective control of the economy, besides propitiating the resumption of the
national development.

3. 3
After the recovery of the Brazilian economy, the future government should promote the
replacement of the neoliberal economic model with the adoption of the national
development model of selective and controlled opening of the national economy for 10
years along the lines of those adopted by Japan, South Korea and China in the decades
1970, 1980 and 1990, respectively, which had the highest rates of economic growth
after World War II; and then the adoption of social democracy along the lines of the
Scandinavian countries (Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Finland and Iceland) which have
the highest rates of simultaneous economic and social progress and sustainable
development policy.
In the recovery phase of the Brazilian economy, there should be an immediate audit of
external and internal debts and the renegotiation of the payment of the country's external
debt and domestic public debt, aiming at its lengthening in time to reduce the burden of
payment and the availability of public resources for investment. An economic policy
should also be adopted that prioritizes: (1) the drastic reduction of superfluous public
expenditure with a reduction in the number of ministries and the elimination of
stewardship; 2) control of inflow and outflow of capital to avoid currency evasion and
restrict the access of speculative capital in the country; 3) the sharp reduction of the
interest rates of the banking system to encourage investments in productive activities; 4)
the selective import of raw materials and essential products from abroad to reduce the
country's foreign exchange expenditures; 5) the adoption of the fixed exchange rate
policy in place of the floating exchange rate in force to protect the domestic industry
and control inflation; 6) the reintroduction of the market reserve in areas considered
strategic for national development; 7) the reestablishment of privatized state enterprises
considered fundamental to national development; and, 8) the adoption of a tax policy
such as taxation of large fortunes and greater taxation of the financial system that is
capable of securing the resources that the State would need to invest in education,
health, social security and infrastructure sectors, among others and burden the
population and the productive sectors as little as possible.
After the recovery or reorganization phase of the Brazilian economy, the national
economic development model of selective and controlled opening of the economy to be
implemented for 10 years should be adopted considering the adoption of strategies that
contribute to: 1) the increase of public and private savings aiming at raising the
investment rates of the Brazilian economy; 2) the realization of foreign investments,
preferably in the export-oriented areas, and in those in which domestic companies are
not in a position to supply the domestic market; 3) the maximization of Brazilian
exports to expand the country's foreign exchange earnings and boost the growth of the
national economy; 4) the granting of tax incentives to attract private investment in less
developed regions of Brazil; 5) the encouragement and reinforcement of research and
development activities and of the country's educational system; and 6) the reduction of
social inequalities, including the adoption of measures that contribute to the basic needs
of the population in terms of food, clothing, housing, health services and employment,
and a better quality of life. This whole set of measures should be put into practice based
on the planning of national economic activity that ensures economic growth and the
development of the country on a sustainable basis.
After 10 years of adopting the national development model for the selective and
controlled opening of the economy, a new model of society should be implemented to
enable a civilized coexistence among all human beings in Brazil. This new model
should be inspired by the social democracy existing in the countries of Scandinavia

4. 4
(Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Finland and Iceland) where the most successful political,
economic and social system was implemented, with the necessary improvements and
adaptations in Brazil. It was the social democracy built up in the Scandinavian
countries, the only model of society that allowed the realization of economic, social and
political progress without similar in the history of humanity, with the State acting as
mediator of the conflicts between the interests of capital and Civil Society. It is no
coincidence that the Scandinavian countries are world leaders in the UN Social Progress
Index and the HDI (Human Development Index) in the world because they have great
political, economic and social successes.
The social democracy to be implanted in Brazil should therefore result from the
improvement of the Scandinavian model that would operate with a tripod structured on
the basis of a neutral State, Active Organized Civil Society and Productive Sector (state
and private) efficient and effective. The neutral State would seek to reconcile the
interests of the Productive Sector (state and private) with those of Civil Society
mediating its conflicts in several instances of the executive and legislative branches that,
when the consensus is not obtained, the final decision would be in charge of the
population that would decide democratically through a plebiscite and / or a referendum.
In the new social democracy, the action of monopoly groups and private cartels in the
economy should not be allowed. Private companies would only operate in economic
sectors where there was competition. State-owned or mixed-economy enterprises would
occupy the economic sectors where competition was not possible. This is the new Brazil
that would have to be invented. It should be noted that this proposal for the invention of
a new Brazil is detailed in our book A Invenção de um novo Brasil (The invention of a
new Brazil) published by the Editora CRV from Curitiba, Brazil, in 2017.
The progressive forces of the nation that wish to end corruption, the resumption of
economic growth, the development of Brazil on a new basis and the defense of national
sovereignty should unite with efforts to choose a candidate for the presidency of the
Republic committed to the proposals presented above and defeat the retrograde forces
that wish to maintain the status quo. It is urgent, therefore, to launch a candidate for the
presidency of the Republic who undertakes to break with neoliberalism and put into
practice the strategies suggested above.
*Fernando Alcoforado, 78, membro da Academia Baiana de Educação e da Academia Brasileira Rotária
de Letras – Seção da Bahia, engenheiro e doutor em Planejamento Territorial e Desenvolvimento
Regional pela Universidade de Barcelona, professor universitário e consultor nas áreas de planejamento
estratégico, planejamento empresarial, planejamento regional e planejamento de sistemas energéticos, é
autor dos livros Globalização (Editora Nobel, São Paulo, 1997), De Collor a FHC- O Brasil e a Nova
(Des)ordem Mundial (Editora Nobel, São Paulo, 1998), Um Projeto para o Brasil (Editora Nobel, São
Paulo, 2000), Os condicionantes do desenvolvimento do Estado da Bahia (Tese de doutorado.
Universidade de Barcelona,http://www.tesisenred.net/handle/10803/1944, 2003), Globalização e
Desenvolvimento (Editora Nobel, São Paulo, 2006), Bahia- Desenvolvimento do Século XVI ao Século XX
e Objetivos Estratégicos na Era Contemporânea (EGBA, Salvador, 2008), The Necessary Conditions of
the Economic and Social Development- The Case of the State of Bahia (VDM Verlag Dr. Müller
Aktiengesellschaft & Co. KG, Saarbrücken, Germany, 2010), Aquecimento Global e Catástrofe
Planetária (Viena- Editora e Gráfica, Santa Cruz do Rio Pardo, São Paulo, 2010), Amazônia Sustentável-
Para o progresso do Brasil e combate ao aquecimento global (Viena- Editora e Gráfica, Santa Cruz do
Rio Pardo, São Paulo, 2011), Os Fatores Condicionantes do Desenvolvimento Econômico e Social
(Editora CRV, Curitiba, 2012), Energia no Mundo e no Brasil- Energia e Mudança Climática
Catastrófica no Século XXI (Editora CRV, Curitiba, 2015), As Grandes Revoluções Científicas,
Econômicas e Sociais que Mudaram o Mundo (Editora CRV, Curitiba, 2016) e A Invenção de um novo
Brasil (Editora CRV, Curitiba, 2017).