ABSTRACT
Introduction1 Can we consider that there is a happy financialization in Brazil? In a world where the rise of finance has been accompanied by increasing income inequalities, a reduction in job security, a strong disaffiliation and real wages stagnation, Brazil is a singular case. On the one hand, finance is developing, credit is rising, international reserves are climbing; and on the other hand, poverty is in decline, income inequality has fallen slightly, income is rising, the ratio of formal/informal employment is improving, unemployment is down and idle production capacity remains low. Is financialization a “paper tiger”, as China once, in the 1960s, branded the united States? Or inversely, does this Brazilian singularity hide an underground disintegration process? Does it mask real threats to employment and income? Continuing the metaphor suggested by the debate between China and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (uSSR) surrounding the united States, if financialization is a paper tiger, does it have atomic teeth – in other words, in the long term, does financialization result in grave consequences for the level of employment and income? To date, deindustrialization is approaching the point of no return in Brazil, imports have risen dramatically, especially for medium-and high-technology sectors. Brazil’s external vulnerability is rising and its dependence on the export of raw materials is becoming ever more perilous; growth has slowed down and already the rise in income has become modest. Is the rise of financialization the principal reason for Brazil’s deindustrialization and new forms of vulnerability? What are then the main roots of the process of financialization and the boom in raw material exports throughout the 2000s?
