Reexamining Roberto Simonsen’s Contribution to the Controversy on Economic Planning (1944-1945)

Abstract

The controversy on economic planning (1944-1945), between Roberto Simonsen and Eugênio Gudin, is a distinguished moment for the study of the history of economic ideas. Roberto Simonsen’s participation in this discussion can be revisited and read in an enriching way if a history-of-ideas perspective is adopted. This paper investigates the theoretical specificity that distinguishes Simonsen’s approach from Gudin’s, arguing that the former joins the debate by means of economic history. His approach was in tune with theoretical questions relevant at the end of World War II, which came to be debated by development economics in Brazil over the next decades. Placing Simonsen’s contribution in the historical context of the controversy opens new possibilities of reading this debate, which is essential for the construction of an economic thought in Brazil.