EL BNDES DE LA SUSTITUCIÓN DE IMPORTACIONES AL NEOLIBERALISMO. UNA EXPLICACIÓN MARXISTA

Abstract

During the current neoliberal era in Latin America, the intervention of government has been considered pernicious to economic activity, and therefore several institutions have been dismantled or have radically changed their functions. Among these institutions are development banks. We claim in this article that development banks after WWII and before neoliberalism arrival positively affected economic growth, broadened domestic markets, and generated employment. We take as a case study the Brazilian development bank BNDES, founded in 1952. Using statistical data as well as a Marxian framework, we found that: (1) BNDES’ disbursements contributed to industrialization from 1952 until the 1970s, (2) BNDES’ disbursements are highly correlated to investments in machinery and equipment, and (3) the downfall of the rate of profit and the dynamics of class struggle explain the changing role of BNDES from import-substitution to neoliberalism.