Word: programing
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Dates: during 1990-1990
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...lesson of these times is that free markets succeed where governments fail, Brazilian President Fernando Collor de Mello is a very voguish thinker. Though his effort to revive his country's punch-drunk economy gets much less attention than the shake-ups transforming Eastern Europe, his monetary program . is every bit as revolutionary. To corset the bloated public sector and turn the economy over to the entrepreneurs, Collor has adopted policies more radical than anything attempted in Brazil in decades -- or perhaps ever -- since taking office on March 15. His approach, says Kenneth Maxwell, senior fellow at the New York...
...make it stick? And will it work? While economists believe that Collor's bold program is well reasoned and long overdue, the consensus is that he overshot the mark initially, stopping inflation but nearly halting business as well. In the process, he has angered Big Business, alienated much of the middle class, and invited the risk of a major recession. He has also provoked the wrath of Big Labor, as evidenced last week by strikes at a state-run steel plant outside Rio de Janeiro and at the main Ford auto factory near Sao Paulo. Now Collor must scramble...
Collor's answer was a monetary "shock" that a Bank of Boston report called "the most severe program of economic stabilization ever imposed in a Latin American country, or perhaps in any country." Under its main provisions, the majority of all financial assets, including savings accounts in excess of about $1,200, were frozen for 18 months. Millions of Brazilians were affected: Collor's action took about $85 billion out of play, abruptly halted most business activity and dropped inflation to 3.29% in April. Collor also announced the immediate abolition of two dozen state agencies and said he would sell...
...government policy that treated the Amazon basin principally as a source of wood products and a locale for development. He declared that he would work vigorously to stop the burning of the forest by ranchers and settlers, then appointed Brazil's foremost environmental activist, Jose Lutzenberger, to enforce the program. In an interview with TIME, Collor was unapologetic about the abrupt turnaround. "On questions of ecology, we have made a fundamental commitment to life," he said. "We have nothing to hide and nothing to explain...
Initially, both the Brazilian public and Congress applauded Collor's ^ program, especially the asset freeze, which was perceived as a slap at the rich. After all, 9 of 10 Brazilian depositors had less than $1,200 in the bank. Then Collor and his relatively inexperienced team blinked. Fearing a full-blown recession, they made it possible for many businesses and individuals to recover frozen funds. Companies were allowed to trade impounded cruzados for negotiable cruzeiros by using them to pay taxes and debts. Exceptions were also made for retirees, unemployed workers and people needing emergency medical treatment...