Political Economy of the Coup d’État in Brazil

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to demonstrate that the Brazilian political crisis that culminated in the impeachment of President Dilma Rousseff is not a direct result of the economic crisis, but a consequence of a broad coalition involving business groups, opposition parties and media with influence in the heart of the state apparatus. The formation of this conservative character of political coalition was part of a process to cut off positive results related to the growing role of the state in the economy and its consequence on employment, labor income and the welfare of Brazilian workers. The economic crisis, therefore, is an epiphenomenon of the political crisis, in the form of productive lockout (production and investments) with effect in a growing debt-to-GDP relation, rising inflation, level of unemployment and, especially, the negative GDP growth.

Keywords

• political economy
• political crisis
• economics
• entrepreneurship
• coup d’etat