ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the overall trends in the world capitalist economy from the 1990s to the 2000s using the circuit of industrial capital as an analytical device. It presents the general conditions of capitalist accumulation in the world economy, in which national economies, both developed and underdeveloped, are inserted, albeit in a hierarchical form. The chapter brings forth an analysis of the Brazilian economy in this general setting, emphasizing the role of Lula's government in possibly promoting changes in the way that the Brazilian capitalism makes up the world capitalist economy. It concludes with answering the question about whether or not the changes under Lula's government were effective and represented a major change in the historical pattern of dependent integration or if it was a deepening of the previous trends. Brazil, under Lula, seemed to be an exception when it comes to the external sector.
