Keynesian economic policies: reflections on the Brazilian economy, 1995-2009

Abstract

As is well known, Keynes proposed deliberate government action, particularly the implementation of economic policies, to coordinate and stabilize the dynamic of monetary economies. In that context, this article aims to retrieve and describe the Keynes' economic-policy prescriptions, specifically monetary, fiscal and exchangerate policies, and to analyse the Brazilian economy's performance in terms of the operating rationale of Keynesian economic policy in the period 1995-2009. The study's findings show that the economic policies implemented following the Real Plan did not keep the Brazilian economy on a sustained and stable growth path in the face of the endogenous and exogenous economic crises that occurred throughout the period. Moreover, its conclusions question the Keynesian credentials of the countercyclical policies implemented by the Brazilian economic authorities since the 2007-2008 international crisis.