A master of the Brazilian economy: Ignácio Rangel

ABSTRACT Ignácio Rangel may be the more original analyst of the Brazilian economic development. His contribution was made particularly in the 1950s and 1960s. Influenced by Keynes and Marx, he adopts a historical and dialectical method. He was the first Brazilian economist to introduce the Kondratieff’ long cycles in the analysis of the Brazilian economy. ln his analysis of Brazil, he always stressed its dual and dynamic character, where the long cycles and changing process of leading social classes presides the process of accumulation in new sectors of the economy, transferring resources from the sector with idle capacity. His major contribution, however, was in inflation theory. He criticized the monetarist and the structuralist views of inflation and showed the endogenous character of the money supply in a pioneering way. As early as 1978 he realized the financial crisis of the state and, in spite of his left leaning position, proposed the privatization of public utilities.