Rousseff outlines deal with Brazil industry
Rousseff outlines deal with Brazil industry
Discussing President Dilma Rousseff's management style, COA's Eric Farnsworth told the Financial Times: “Whereas [Lula] had the big smile and the ability to wink and nod and get people to do their jobs as he saw them, [Rousseff] has a more direct approach.”
During a visit in London recently, Brazil’s President Dilma Rousseff spelled out in stark terms the social contract that governs relations between her administration and national industry.
Brazilian carmakers had better not lay off workers if they wanted more tax breaks to help them through the economic slowdown, the president warned.
“We are giving incentives to guarantee employment. They need to know that this is our sole motive,” said the president, who attended the Olympics opening ceremony.
Whether it concerns the automotive, banking or resources sectors, after more than 18 months in the top job, Brazil’s first woman president is emerging as a leader who likes nothing more than to dive into the nitty gritty of industrial policy.
Displaying a tendency to micro-manage that dates from her days as a chief of staff in the administration of her predecessor, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, Ms Rousseff has hit on a so far electorally popular agenda of selectively increasing the involvement of the state in the economy to pursue her industrial policies and protect jobs.
“Her operating style is clearly different from Lula’s, it’s not to say it’s better or worse necessarily, but it’s clearly different,” said Eric Farnsworth, vice-president of the Council of the Americas and the Americas Society.
“Whereas he had the big smile and the ability to wink and nod and get people to do their jobs as he saw them, she has a more direct approach.”
