ABSTRACT
This chapter proposes to assess the extent to which the performance of the Brazilian economy in 2008/09 was attributable to enlightened macroeconomic policy making on the part of the federal government. The one meaningful change in the domestic macroeconomic picture between the period immediately before the 1998 crisis and the 2008 crisis was the fast accumulation of reserves that characterized the latter period. More important, no major disruption, institutional or otherwise, resulted from the 2008 crisis. One could move investments from an emerging economy to another, but not back to developed countries, except under strict necessity. The same factor contributed to an essential aspect of the 2008 crisis. Moreover, the factors behind the strength of Brazilian's balance of payments position no longer operate, as the continuing appreciation of the currency is undermining the current account balance.
