Celso Monteiro Furtado (1920 - November 20, 2004) was one of the most influential Brazilian economists, and the most influential leftist economist that Brazil has ever had. He denominated himself as a socio-politic researcher. 1920 is a leap year starting on Thursday (link will take you to calendar) // Events January January 7 - Forces of Russian White admiral Kolchak surrender in Krasnoyarsk. ... November 20 is the 324th day of the year (325th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 2004 is a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... An economist is someone who studies Economics. ...

Celso Furtado (right) with Brazilian president Lula da Silva (2003)

He held, among other academic tiles, the degree of Ph.D. in Economics by Université Paris Sorbonne. Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1419x931, 127 KB) Economist Celso Furtado (1920-2004) with Brasilian president Lula da Silva (Fortaleza, July 2003) (Foto: Marcello Casal Jr / ABr) From Agência Brasil: http://img. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1419x931, 127 KB) Economist Celso Furtado (1920-2004) with Brasilian president Lula da Silva (Fortaleza, July 2003) (Foto: Marcello Casal Jr / ABr) From Agência Brasil: http://img. ... Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (born October 6, 1945) is a left-wing Brazilian politician. ... The Sorbonne, Paris, in a 17th century engraving The Sorbonne today, from the same point of view La Sorbonne was the name of the former University of Paris, in Paris, France, one among the most ancient in Europe. ...

Furtado worked for different federal Brazilian governments and influenced the formulation of public policies during 20th century in Brazil, among which must be mentioned his participation in the government of the president Juscelino Kubitschek and the creation of SUDENE - "Superintendência do Desenvolvimento do Nordeste" (an agency for the stimulation of the development of the poor Northeast region of Brazil). Juscelino Kubitschek and his wife Juscelino Kubitschek de Oliveira (JK) (September 12, 1902-August 22, 1976) was a prominent Brazilian politician who was President of Brazil from 1956 to 1961. ...

Furtado and Argentine economist Raúl Prebisch, while were working at CEPAL - Comisión Económica para América Latina y el Caribe, an agency of UN, were decisive for the formulation of a socio-economic policy for the development of Latin America. Dr. Raúl Prebisch (1901 – 1986) was an Argentine economist known for his contribution to structuralist economics, in particular the Prebisch-Singer hypothesis that formed the basis of economic dependency theory. ... The United Nations, or UN, is an international organization established in 1945 and now made up of 191 states. ...

Furtado was one of the founders of United Nations Conference on Trade and Development. The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) was established in 1964 as a permanent intergovernmental body, UNCTAD is the principal organ of the United Nations General Assembly dealing with trade, investment and development issues. ...

Furtado has published more than 30 books, among them: Economic Formation of Brazil (title in Portuguese, "Formação econômica do Brasil"); The Myth of Economic Development (title in Portuguese, "O mito do desenvolvimento econômico") and Global Capitalism (title in Portuguese, "O Capitalismo Global"). The first is his best knowledge book, while the second sounds, thirty years after its first publication, as a prophecy. Many of his books have been being translated in various languages.

The book named "O mito do desenvolvimento econômico" was first published in 1974. It is a prophetic book that deserves to be commented in some details. In the book, Furtado called the ongoing economic process, that is now known as globalization, by the Brazilian-Portuguese expression "mundialização da economia" (what refers to the "spread of world economy"). In the book Furtado has also emphasized many essential aspects of economic development, pointing out important questions for the future. The future of the book is the present days, as some questions suggested by Furtado can show: 1974 is a common year starting on Tuesday (click on link for calendar). ... Globalization (or globalisation) is a term used to describe the changes in societies and the world economy that result from dramatically increased international trade and cultural exchange. ...

1) The myth of economic development versus the need natural resources for economic processes: it's a myth to think that economic development, and its benefits, will some day reach the world society as a whole if the model of economic development does not change. For instance, there are no sufficient natural resources available for every person in the world if one considers the economic model in which economy was based in the 70s and is also based nowadays, i.e. the model where consumerism and individualism are the base for corporate actions throughout the society. For instance, if every person had money to buy a car, our cities would be completely frozen. The critics on the myths of economic development were based on a report for the Club of Rome, which is summarized in Abstract of The limits to Growth: a report to The Club of Rome; The Club of Rome is a German-based global think tank that deals with a variety of international political issues. ...

2) About poverty: in the countries that do not had "central" economies (countries that were not the base for the giants corporations), at most 10% of population could reach the level of richness that are achieved by people in the richest countries. Peripheral economies, which would not create an independent and more complete economy, would continue to be poor countries, with increasing differences between poor and rich people inside this societies;

3) About the World economic superstructure: The world superstructure of capitalist economy (mainly IMF and GATT, which originated WTO (World Trade Organization) would, on the one hand, increase control over World economy, increasing also freedom for capital's flows and for big corporations actions, and, on the other hand, would decrease the number of possible options available for governments, mainly for poor country's governments. This is the kind of development that has been taking place for the late 30 years. The flag of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is the international organization entrusted with overseeing the global financial system by monitoring foreign exchange rates and balance of payments, as well as offering technical and financial assistance when asked. ... General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (usually abbreviated GATT) functions as the foundation of the WTO trading system, and remains in force, although the 1995 Agreement contains an updated version of it to replace the original 1947 one. ... WTO Logo The World Trade Organization (WTO) is an international organization which oversees a large number of agreements defining the rules of trade between its member states (WTO, 2004a). ...

Furtado was officially indicated for The Bank of Sweden Prize in Economic Sciences (Nobel Prize of Economics) in 2004, but was not prized. He died in Rio in November 20th, 2004, at the age of 84. The Bank of Sweden Prize in Economic Sciences (Swe. ... Sir Edward Appletons medal Photographs of Nobel Prize Medals. ...

External links

• Obituary from The Guardian
• Celso Furtado in História do pensamento econômico