A Giant in Decline? Brazil and Foreign Debt, 1968–1987

This dissertation examines Brazilian economic policy from the late 1960s until the late 1980s, focusing on foreign debt, and seeks to contribute to the literature on modern Brazilian history and more broadly to the literature on the history of capitalism and of the international monetary system in the 20th century. It does so by telling the history of Brazilian indebtedness from both a domestic and an international perspective and by providing sources from over a dozen archives in Brazil, the US, the UK, and France. In contrast to more quantitative accounts of the foreign debt buildup and the debt crisis, this dissertation focuses on issues of communication and narrative. It argues that both Brazilian authorities and international actors had, at all times, to create specific narratives about the sustainability of those economic policies and about the wisdom of relying on foreign debt. Those narratives were crucial to maintaining international confidence in Brazil’s future and keeping capital flowing into the country. Those actors attempted to create a narrative of Brazilian uniqueness and employed several tactics to dispel fears about the debt strategy, such as relativizing statistical data on debt or pointing to Brazil’s sheer size and untapped resources as a way to emphasize the country’s repayment capacity. The Brazilian authorities’ concern with image also influenced alignments with the developing world and relations with the IMF. The dissertation tracks those shifting arguments and tactics from the time of the Brazilian economic “miracle” to the Brazilian redemocratization and the 1987 moratorium, delving into how issues of democracy and authoritarianism also influenced economic policy communication.