The Third Way Orphans hopes Lula will respect economics, but it may only be for 2026

The December solstice has arrived. In the groups of economists on WhatsApp, disappointment with the choices of the economic team. Olaf remembered.

This is Princess Elsa’s friendly snowman from Frozen. Her song, Into the Summer, celebrates her naïveté. He tells us all he plans to do when the season arrives. He represents that sunny future, when he imagines he will tan.

Olaf does not realize his fate in the summer he longs for. One of the characters even tries to warn you of your fate. He was stopped by the princess, “Don’t you dare!” , to protect the purity of the doll.

In the summer, it’s a parable like, “Be careful what you want because you might get it.” Warns of the destructive power of reality over certain projections.

Economists melt. Lula’s government arrives and this is not what they expected. The economic team meeting ended without the stars being selected. We imagined a strong team in the Ministry of Economy – in our best dreams it would be Percio or Arminio as ministers.

Videos and texts have appeared from recent years about the real chosen ones. In general, the new team predicted that the pandemic would not cause inflation, that the reform of the pension system would lead to a recession, and that Roberto Campos Neto would cause another recession.

Economists, many third-way orphans, wanted a government that respected science—ads show that this would be the case for climate science, health science, and education science. It is feared that economics will be delayed until 2026.

“I guess you don’t have much experience with heat,” one character asks. Olaf replied: “Nothing!” Other cynics argue that Delma’s brutal stagnation should have fortified the profession, without the gullibility of the Iceman. “Do L!” is a comment mocking economists who, having supported Lula’s election, now fear escalation.

However, there is the giant Bernard Abiy, one of the most complete economists in Brazil and the main expert on our biggest challenge (tax reform). The executive branch still has excellent professional civil servants who can assist the new government with high quality. There is a Congress similar to the one that has approved reforms in recent years and STF all over the place, which can contain setbacks eventually.

So I will continue to practice optimism for a while longer. I hope, as in Olaf’s song, to avoid the tragic rhyme: “Winter is a rather pleasant time, I want summer to turn into … a happy snowman!”