Equilíbrio fiscal na perspectiva da teoria da justiça intergeracional de John Rawls

Abstract

The question of intergenerational justice in public finance has become increasingly significant in the political and legal process of liberal democracies, particularly in the face of the perception that growing public debt, mainly to meet current expenditures for the sole benefit of current generations, has generated unfair burdens for the generations to come. In this context, it is necessary to interpret fiscal balance and its related legal principle from the perspective of a theory of justice that takes individuals seriously and protects rights and the public accounts, but that is also fair for future generations. These generations should be considered a political minority in the context of democratic debate because they are unable to organise politically and form a democratic majority. The present inquiry aims to contribute to the debate by offering a possible interpretation of the fiscal balance, adopting as a theoretical framework one of the most influential theories of contemporary justice: the theory of justice as fairness of the American philosopher John Rawls. It is intended, in the first instance, to present the general outlines of the John Rawls theory of justice and a possible interpretation of the fiscal balance in the context of his theory of intergenerational justice, based on the principle of just saving. It then seeks to analyse some of the rules of the Brazilian legal system, in particular the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Brazil and the Fiscal Responsibility Law in relation to that interpretation of fiscal balance, in order to identify intergenerational justice clauses or clauses that, although considered fundamental rights, violate the precepts of equity between the generations