Brazil as an Economic Superpower?

Brazil is once again getting attention in the northern hemisphere—attention long overdue, given its huge and diverse population, its physical size and diversity, and its geopolitical and economic importance as the largest country in Latin America. Long seen as an economic backwater, Brazil now occupies key niches in energy, agriculture, service industries, even high technology markets. Yet the nation still struggles with endemic problems of inequality and with a traditional ambivalence toward deep integration with the world economy.Brookings gathered scholars and policymakers from Brazil, Europe, and the United States to examine the present state and likely future of Brazil’s economy. Their findings can be found in Brazil as an Economic Superpower? The authors’ analysis focuses particularly on five key topics: agribusiness, energy, trade, social investment, and multinational corporations. The net result is an invaluable analytical contribution and a provocative lookinto the future of our global economy and into the workings of one particularly important component of that system.ContentsIntroduction1. Brazil as an International Energy Player2. Brazil as an Agricultural and Agroenergy Superpower3. Brazil: The Challenges in Becoming an Agricultural Superpower4. Brazil’s Trade Policy: Moving Away from Old Paradigms?5. Brazil’s Trade Policy: Old and New Issues6. Leveraging Natural Endowments and State Support for International Expansion7. Technology, Public Policy, and the Emergence of Brazilian Multinationals8. Income Policies, Income Distribution, and the Distribution of Opportunities in Brazil