Source: O Globo - Rio de Janeiro / RJ - 27/07/2010

Whether they like government or not, there are issues that are imposed on the countries' agendas, at the risk of abyssal crises. For example, if periodic adjustments are not made to social security rules, to adapt them to the new demographic profile of the population, whose tendency is aging, public accounts will be swallowed up by pensions and pensions. The rule applies to the world - it is not a question of a peculiar deviation of character from this or that government.

Reforms like this are politically difficult, which is why they are usually done at special times, in crises or when someone comes to power with a longer-term vision and willing to risk popularity in exchange for laying more solid foundations for the country.

But there are areas where it is possible to move forward with modernizing changes and having broad support from the population. Bureaucracy is one of those areas where improvements can have an immediate effect in terms of generating more income and jobs. And given our historic autarchic heritage, there is no shortage of work to improve the business environment in Brazil, by simplifying countless routines imposed by the State on companies.

On Sunday, a GLOBO report brought an exemplary case: of every ship that arrives in the country, an average of 112 documents are required, with the obligation to provide 935 information. It is a plethora of forms with different routes to be sent to different bodies and in duplicate. Only in the port of Santos, the largest in the country, the bureaucracy requires, per year, the filling of 3.773.800 sheets, 17,4 tons of paper, according to an estimate by the Federal Data Processing Service (Serpro).

Since any country does most of its exports and imports by ship, it is concluded that bureaucracy is a powerful obstacle to Brazilian foreign trade.

Exports only grew due to the formidable cycle of global expansion that ended in late 2008. So much so that Brazilian participation in global trade, despite all that growth, remained stable, not much above 1%.

The serious problem of bureaucracy places Brazil badly in the rankings about facilities and difficulties for closing deals.

A recent study by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) calculated that, in Brazil, a company spends 2.600 hours / year in tax relief, against 453 in Argentina, 316 in Chile and 177 in developed countries, on average. With an aggravating factor: taxes are also high.

Heavy taxes and paralyzing bureaucracy are an infallible recipe for a society not to develop in the broadest sense of the word - in production, in knowledge, etc. It is understood why, despite all the internal talk about economic growth, the Brazilian weight in world GDP is falling: it was 2,92% in 2002 and will fall to 2,90% at the end of this year, according to Fund projections. Monetary Fund (IMF).

It is good for self-esteem to include Brazil in the emerging bloc, which is the fastest growing in the world. But when you look at the statistics, you see that the country is far from repeating Chinese and Indian performance. China and India increase their share in world GDP; Brazil loses participation. Bureaucracy and taxes help explain this story.