July 2005

by a group of economists, businessmen, journalists and civil servants,

concerned with the process of economic and social disintegration

caused by decades of chronic inflation.

We named the institute after the great French historian Fernand Braudel, one of the founders of the University of São Paulo in the 1930s, who celebrated the power of the market in the acceleration of human development of recent centuries.
We conduct research and public debate on the institutional problem of chronic inflation. The consolidation of economic stability and democracy in Brazil is an arduous route and is not yet concluded. This process requires debate, consciousness-building and understanding by society. We try to go beyond simple diagnostics highlighting young researchers who provide effective suggestions for public policy.

We conduct research, seminars and international conferences on various themes such as governability, problems of scale, ethics and inflation, Brazil and the World Economy, the crisis of federalism, monetary and fiscal policy, public health, violence, uncontrolled urbanization and mortality.

We are supported by more than 40 private enterprises as well as international organizations such as the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Ford and Tinker Foundations.
We seek the support of people and companies committed to the search for solutions to today's institutional problems.

We strive to make our sponsors proud of our work and hope that they will derive intellectual and professional stimulation from this pioneer effort.