Luis InacioLula da Silva was elected as President of Brazil one year ago, on a programme including the ambitious reduction of poverty and inequality. How far is it possible to assess empirically Brazil's social inequalities, their causes and the effects of existing social policy measures? What are the intellectual foundations of the reform policy which the new government has launched? What instruments is it basing its policy on?

Holding a PhD from the University of Princeton, Professor Marcelo C. Neri is the director of the Centre for Social Policy Studies of the Getulio Vargas Foundation (Rio). He has worked much on income inequalities, labour markets and social policies in Brazil, and is a recognised expert in these areas.