By LEDA PAULANI*
Speech at the tribute to the economist's 90th birthday, at the Getútio Vargas Foundation (FGV-SP)
Initially, I would like to thank Nelson Marconi for inviting me to say a few words about our honoree.
In the script he prepared for this ceremony, I was assigned to pay homage to Professor Bresser on behalf of “economists in general.”
The first observation I make is about the relevance of this specific tribute that I have been entrusted with. In the case of Luiz Carlos Bresser-Pereira, it is not here just because of protocol requirements. The respect and admiration that the professor enjoys crosses the various groups and tribes that, with their diverse beliefs and approaches theorists, constitute the ever-warring community of economists.
It was therefore necessary, in the case of Luiz Carlos Bresser-Pereira more than in any other, for someone to speak on behalf of “economists in general”. But I will obviously speak here only from my own perspective, which is academia – because Luiz Carlos Bresser-Pereira, as we know, has always worked on several fronts.
The second observation is that I think Nelson Marconi was right to choose my name, not because of my merits, which I do not have many, but because I am living proof of Luiz Carlos Bresser-Pereira's remarkable ability to coexist cordially and sincerely respect different points of view and theoretical positions. We have never thought exactly alike. Our views are different, objectively and theoretically, but he has always treated me not only with due consideration, but also with a genuine interest in my work, which he has always sought to value, which has greatly honored me and has honored me throughout all these years of academic coexistence.
Luiz Carlos Bresser-Pereira was part of my academic career at very important moments. He was a member of the examining board for the defense of my doctoral thesis on the concept of money in 1992 and, fifteen years later, he was part of the examination board for the selection process that led to my tenure at FEA-USP. I later learned, because we always end up learning about these things, that he, despite all our differences, played a decisive role in defending my name as a candidate for the only vacancy available at the time.
Here, therefore, is the first merit of Luiz Carlos Bresser-Pereira that I wanted to highlight, this practicing ecumenism that has always characterized his conduct in the academic world.
The second merit I would like to highlight is his intellectual honesty and his ability to recognize and value the younger generation. The first time I met Luiz Carlos Bresser-Pereira, I was shocked. Three weeks after the launch of the Plano Cruzado, I, then a postgraduate student at IPE-USP, published an article in Folha de S. Paul a short article that sought to show the different theoretical positions that were behind that heterodox experiment.
I went to lunch a few days later at my parents' house and my father said to me: a professor called here to look for you; first he asked if there was a Leda Paulani here; I said yes, that she was my daughter, but that she no longer lived here. He then said that he was a professor, his name was Luiz Carlos and he wanted to talk to you about the article in Sheet. He asked me to tell you that.
I was intrigued, I thought and thought, and I couldn't figure out who it could be. Two or three days later, we met at Cebrap – I was a student in the first class of the institution's training program and Luiz Carlos Bresser-Pereira had gone there for a seminar. When he saw my name as one of the students in the program, he came looking for me. That was the only way I found out who Professor Luiz Carlos was and I almost fell over backwards.
I was an illustrious unknown graduate student. And he, from the height of his renown, at that time without internet or smartphones, had taken the trouble to go through the phone book to try to contact me so that we could talk about the article and all that theoretical controversy that the long period of high inflation ended up generating in Brazil. I was amazed. Since we have never lost contact since then, I began to realize that this was a common behavior of Luiz Carlos Bresser-Pereira, yet another proof of his open spirit, his willingness to listen and his generosity.
Finally, I cannot fail to mention, and now leaving the sphere stricto sensu academic, the crucial role that Luiz Carlos Bresser-Pereira played in these politically turbulent years since the beginning of President Dilma Rousseff's second term. At all the decisive moments of this sad period, he was a supporter, defender and companion from the start of those who had been his political adversaries years before, which, given his moral and intellectual stature, made a huge difference for those who fought to keep the milk from spilling. I would even say that he was fundamental to Lula's victory in 2022 and the relief that victory brought by defeating Jair Bolsonaro's proto-fascism – despite this hideous specter still being around, breathing down our necks.
Note that, to talk a little about Luiz Carlos Bresser-Pereira, since time is short, I did not need to refer to the 53 books, 89 book chapters and 257 articles in academic journals that he published in Brazil and abroad, where, it must be said, he is equally respected and admired. These are cold numbers, which speak of his intellectual capacity, but are incapable of translating in a human and true way who he really is.
To conclude, I affirm that if we had 1% of economists/professors/researchers/executives/public figures with the dignity and capacity of Luiz Carlos Bresser-Pereira, Brazil would certainly be a much better country.
Congratulations, professor, on your 90th birthday and on such an enlightened career.
*Leda Maria Paulani is a senior professor at FEA-USP. Author, among other books, of Modernity and economic discourse (boitempo). [https://amzn.to/3x7mw3t]
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