Weekly Report - 22 November 2007 (INNS 1741-7422)

The newly appointed president of the Instituto de Pesquisa Econômica Aplicada (Ipea) last week sacked four economists who published research critical of the government. The Ipea was founded during the military regime to help the federal government to design long-term economic policies. Significantly, the institute has always had a tradition of autonomy from the government. Government critics claim that this is no longer the case and suggest that the incident heralds a "witch-hunt" by President Lula da Silva's administration.