ABSTRACT
The economic expansion that began in 1967 coincided with General Costa e Silva's rise to power. This chapter explores the basic reason for this new expansion is the middle class's increased capacity to purchase durable consumer goods, especially automobiles. The industrial working class and the lower urban middle class show a similar lack of democratic beliefs. Yet there is a firm basis for the hypothesis that Brazil's recovery and further development was built upon the concentration of income among the middle and upper classes. The Costa e Silva government has the distinction of being the first officially to diagnose inflation in Brazil as cost-pushed inflation, and to take measures coherent with official analysis. The Brazilian population's lack of experience in democracy makes it easy prey to strong governments. The political model for Brazilian development in the 1930-1961 periods was based on an alliance among the emerging national bourgeoisie, populist currents, and left sectors, centered on industrialism, nationalism, and moderate interventionism.
