Economic policy and economic research in Brazil during the pandemic

ABSTRACT

How did the COVID-19 crisis impact the field of economic policy and research in Brazil? In a country where inequality is among the highest in the world and the economic situation of the poor was steadily worsening, one could expect a radical shift towards welfare policies to protect income and jobs. Yet economic debate is far from reaching a consensus on the need for fiscal measures;it remains highly polarised among politicians and opinion makers. This chapter analyses economic policy and research in Brazil before and during the pandemic, focusing on the debate between economic austerity and welfare policies. It argues that COVID-19 has brought to the surface many concerns that were already haunting economic debate, such as the current fiscal rule (spending ceiling rule) revision and the increase in public debt. At the same time, it consolidated the fields of economic development and social economics as being among the priorities of Brazilian scholars. © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2022.