ABSTRACT
This chapter argues that the Banco Nacional de Desenvolvimento Economico (BNDE)'s remarkable record of persistence as a pocket of effectiveness (PoE) in a changing Brazilian state can be traced to several factors evident in its creation and first decade of existence. Since its creation in the early 1950s, the National Bank for Economic Development has been the single most important government entity offering long-term loans and technical expertise for development projects in Brazil. The BNDE was a by-product of the Joint Brazil-United States Economic Development Commission, established in the early 1950s to formulate an investment program in basic infrastructure, to be financed by the World Bank and the Brazilian government. While the Joint Commission recommended making a government agency responsible for carrying out the investment plan, deciding the exact form this agency should take was left entirely to the Brazilian authorities.
