‘We spend, but don’t produce quality education’, says Paulo Tafner …

Founder and CEO of the recently launched Institute for Mobility and Social Development (IMDS), economist Paulo Tafner says that it is necessary to improve the quality of spending to ensure that Brazilians can compete on an equal footing in the labor market and ascend the social pyramid. Without social mobility, according to him, the country will have less potential for growth. Check out the main excerpts from the interview:

Where did the idea for the institute come from?

Firstly, because there are more than 30 years of work that involve social issues, particularly the persistent poverty in Brazil and the high levels of inequality. Brazil has not grown in more recent years, but it has been growing for 30 years, although less than it could have, and we have a situation of persistent poverty and inequality. And we have strong social programs, such as Bolsa Família. This led us to question the following: why do we, despite growing, albeit moderately, despite having carried out a broad income transfer program such as Bolsa Família and other social programs, why, (even though) having increased spending with education, and health, do we persist with such frightening poverty and inequality rates? It is different from what one might have imagined after so much had been done.