Questioning orthodoxies: Roberto Simonsen and Wladimir Woytinsky in the intellectual scene of the between-war period

Abstract

This paper attempts to present a more thorough understanding of the economic thought of the Brazilian industrialist Roberto Simonsen. Thus, the texts by Simonsen and a contemporary author, the Russian economist Wladimir Woytinsky, are examined, and are focused on the intellectual production of these authors at two specific times, which shows them as opponents to the predominant orthodoxies. In Simonsen's case, we deal with his reaction to the visit of the English financial mission which came to Brazil in 1924 (Montagu mission), and with a lecture given at the Mackenzie College in São Paulo, in 1931. For Woytinsky, we focus on the time when he was the drafting of a plan to solve the 1930-32 crisis in Germany. It is demonstrated that the connection between Simonsen and Woytinsky is to be found in the work of the Rumanian economist Mihail Manoilesco. Finally, we outline the approaches of the two authors regarding the question of European reconstruction after World War I, highlighting that their approaches are in tune.