ABSTRACT
The think tank concept is alien to Brazilians. To a large extent the appearance of think tanks in Brazil is a second post-World War event. The story of Instituto Brasileiro de Economia and the role it has played in Brazilian society can not be told without a reference to Fundao Getuho Vargas (FGV), its mother institution. FGV's original statute indicated that it should be involved primarily with "the rational organization of labor."In the Brazilian context, O Instituto Nacional de Altos Estudos is quite probably the purest form of a think tank. Think tanks focusing either on the short-run or structural themes cover a wide range of areas mostly in the social sciences field. An outstanding institution that fits extremely well into the think tank concept is A Escola Superior de Guerra. The faculty is comprised of military personnel and civilians from leading universities and think tanks.
