'Estudos Avançados' #85 suggests ways to overcome unemployment

Unemployment, which concerns all of the Brazilian society nowadays, is the theme of the main dossier on the 85th issue of the Estudos Avançados journal, launched on December 17, 2015.

According to the publication's editor, Alfredo Bosi, "the dossier not only raises crucial questions of economic theory but also objectively analyzes certain situations", with reflections that "affect the structure of Brazilian capitalism at this time of financialization and acute deindustrialization".

However, the dossier does not simply identify the economic difficulties of the country and its impact on the labor market. Bosi points out that most of the texts indicate output paths of the crisis, with not always orthodox measures, firstly recommending the reduction in the rate of interest and then progressivity in taxation on high net worth and unproductive income streams, resumption of infrastructure investment, industrial policies, national exploitation of pre-salt resources, maintaining of internal credits, review of health cuts, education and housing, and income transfer through social security measures.

The collection of texts is also concerned with relevant specific issues such as the role of unions in the dynamics of employment and the labor market for women, young people and blacks, and makes a labor situation comparative study in Brazil, Colombia and Venezuela.

Organized by economist Marcio Pochman, president of the Perseus Abramo Foundation and a professor at UNICAMP, the dossier contains 13 articles written by 20 experts linked to the Institute of Applied Economic Research (IPEA), the Inter-Union Department of Statistics and Socioeconomic Studies (DIEESE) and nine universities: UNESP, UNICAMP, PUC-SP, UFSC, UFF, UFRGS, UFPR, UFSM and PUC-RS.

Issue 85 also features articles on urbanism in Brazil (especially in the city of São Paulo), literary criticism and philosophy, as well as reviews of the books Time, Work and Social Domination, by Moishe Postone, and Escritores, Gatos e Teologia ("Writers, Cats and Theology"), by Waldecy Tenório.