Uma breve história da economia política da defesa da concorrência

Abstract

Competition and price stability are two faces of the same coin. In free market economies, price stability compatible with an optimal resources allocation, can only be guaranteed with true competition. The existence of monopolies or highly concentrated oligopolies, or yet of cartels or anti competitive conducts, impair competition leading to higher prices and profits, and thus, harming society. It seems fair to say that nowadays the Brazilian people cherish price stability as people in the developed world do. Brazilians have learned the hard way, how much economic and social damage inflation can cause. Nevertheless, the Brazilian people do not give much value to competition defence, and sometimes are even led by populist politicians into believing that it is a good idea to re-introduce price control mechanisms into specific sectors. This paper traces the historical foundations for this behaviour. It argues also that the 40 years of existence of CADE (the competition administrative tribunal) is not, by itself , something to be proud of. After all, it was only after 1994, with the structural reforms implemented through the Real Plan, and with the new competition Law no. 8884, that we might say that competition defence was effectively introduced in Brazil.