Greece: Of paupers and taxes | 143 comments (143 topical, 0 editorial, 0 hidden)

Re: Cynics or fools? (4.00 / 3)

Actually it is worth mentioning that Lula himself has never missed an opportunity to slam the IMF and IMF type policies whenever he has had the chance. I.e.:

Lula... urged Portuguese policymakers to reject any austerity measures. "The IMF won't resolve Portugal's problems, like it didn't solve Brazil's" he told Portuguese reporters on Monday, making the point that accepting an EU-IMF bailout would results in stricter austerity measures which would hamper growth, according to The Washington Post.

The road of excess leads to the palace of wisdom - William Blake

by talos (mihalis at gmail dot com) on Mon Feb 18th, 2013 at 10:52:45 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Cynics or fools? (none / 1)

They were anti-IMF that is for sure.

But that is not the issue. The issue is how did they get rid of it? They opted for paying. Super-avits of 4.5% year over year.

Brazil's model is not one of "sticking the finger to creditors", au contraire.

I am not saying that it is a good model to follow (I actually think it is an IMPOSSIBLE model to follow).

But in name of getting the history correct (my only point here, nothing more), the Brazilian case is not one of defaulting or anything like that.

by cagatacos on Mon Feb 18th, 2013 at 11:31:01 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Cynics or fools? (none / 1)

Yes, but my point is that the claim that "the foundation was laid for very good economic developments in subsequent years" through the IMF programmes is denied by Lula himself. Brazil pushed through despite the IMF programme, not because of it, according to those in charge at the time. Plus of course, as you say, the numbers are very different...

The road of excess leads to the palace of wisdom - William Blake

by talos (mihalis at gmail dot com) on Mon Feb 18th, 2013 at 12:58:02 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Greece: Of paupers and taxes | 143 comments (143 topical, 0 editorial, 0 hidden)

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