Political Economy of Lula’s Brazil

<p><em>The Political Economy of Lula’s Brazil</em> describes the social, political and economic transformations that led to increased interest in the tropical giant at the start of the 21st century. This volume demonstrates that Brazil’s rise was the result of the adoption of heterodox economic policies, while also highlighting the obstacles to choosing an egalitarian development path in Latin America. </p><p></p><p>Adopting an innovative perspective in terms of methodology and interpretation, contributors from Brazil, Latin America and France follow a non-dogmatic critical approach in order to explain the institutional changes that made a new cycle of development possible in Brazil. The authors also argue that the evolution of Brazil, following the implementation of leftist policies, paradoxically gave birth to several economic, political and environmental contradictions. They contend that these contradictions, including the falling rate of profit linked to the full employment of resources; the redistributive process seen as a menace by the conservative middle classes; and the growing intervention of the state in the different markets, eventually led to the end of the early 21st century development cycle. </p><p></p><p>Providing clues to understanding the contradictory and painful path towards the development of semi-industrialised countries, this book will interest students and academics in the fields of economics, sociology, history and political science. The story it tells may also interest all those searching for independent analysis of the successes and failures of Lula’s Brazil.</p><p></p> <p><strong>PART I The praxis of change. </strong>1.<strong> </strong>Introduction, <em>Pedro Chadarevian, </em>2. Is the change in globalization’s rhythm an opportunity for Latin-American emerging economies?, <em>Pierre Salama, </em>3. Lula's economic model and post-neoliberalism in Brazil, <em>Pedro Chadarevian. </em><strong>PART II The mechanisms of change. </strong>4. Money, politics and the possibility of a mode of regulation based on the internal market, <em>Jaime Marques Pereira, </em>5. Growth, functional income distribution and capital accumulation in Brazil: a prospective analysis of the contemporary period, <em>Miguel Bruno and Ricardo Caffé,</em> 6. Financial markets, public policy and consumer credit growth in Brazil, <em>María Alejandra Caporale Madi, </em>7. Hits and misses of public investment strategy in Brazil, <em>Cristina Froes de Borja Reis, </em>8. Sovereign or dependent integration into the world economy? The Brazilian external sector, <em>Marcelo Milan. </em><strong>PART III The challenges of change. </strong>9.<strong> </strong>Dystonia as domination: how the Brazilian elites have put power and politics out of step, <em>Félix Ruiz Sánchez, </em>10. Rain forests, land rent and the ecological contradictions of development in contemporary Brazil, <em>Pedro Chadarevian, </em>11. Higher education: development of underdevelopment or a tool to overcome it?, <em>Reginaldo Moraes, </em>12. The impact of conditional cash transfer programs in Brazil and their limits, <em>Robério Paulino, </em>13.<em> </em>Conclusion,<strong> </strong><em>Pedro Chadarevian</em></p><p></p>