Finanças Públicas Instrumentais. Desenvolvimento, Igualdade e Justiça. Superando os mitos do neoliberalismo nas finanças públicas brasileiras

Abstract

Doctoral thesis that intends to reveal the way in which neoliberal ideology guides Brazilian public finances. The thesis demonstrates how consensus around financial requirements such as spending caps, balanced budgets and primary surplus targets are linked to neoliberal ideology, producing low levels of economic growth, public deficits and inequality over the last few decades. The thesis intends to offer the perspective that public finances must be instrumental, in order to make fiscal policies that produce development, equality and justice viable. The thesis questions the supposed principle of budget balance, which should not be pursued at all times in economic cycles. The thesis also investigates how the Modern Monetary Theory can offer useful tools for understanding and managing Brazilian public finances. The thesis proposes that political commitments to tax progressivity, stimulating demand for public spending and public investments in social infrastructure be resumed as a way to contain the growth of inequality.