This article examines the question of why interest rates are so high in Brazil as compared to the international average. It looks at theoretical arguments based on excessive government deficits, structural lack of private savings, inflation bias, excessive investment demand and fear of floating. An informal look at the evidence does not strongly corroborate any of these arguments. Hence a wise central bank should consider "testing" the market to make sure it is not dealing with an extreme equilibrium configuration or a long standing disequilibrium.

RESUMO Esta nota gira em torno da questão da medição da inflação. Na primeira parte, rememora a história dos índices de inflação para depois discutir se os índices em uso no Brasil são do tipo Snyder. parte Snyder

ABSTRACT This note revolves around the issue of measuring inflation. In the first part, it rememorates the history of inflation indexes to then discuss if the indexes in use in Brazil are of Snyder type. part type