Brazil facts of the day

In the mid-1980s manufacturing accounted for a third of Brazil’s gdp; now it represents just 10%. The country’s surplus in manufacturing trade, $6bn in 2005, became a deficit of $108bn by 2019. Productivity in manufacturing and services has stagnated or shrunk.

Here is more from The Economist, note that the hinterlands, such as Mato Grosso, are growing faster than average.  Mining, agricultural, and commodities are doing well: “Seven of the ten municipalities that have grown most are in the farmbelt in the southern half of the country and the centre-west.”

Finally, note this:

…the capital, Brasília, grew by 1.2% a year, more than double the national rate.

The notion that Brasilia is simply some white elephant modernist failure has become one of the more enduring social science myths.  Like many other national capitals it is atrophied along some of the wrong dimensions, but taking that into account it is doing OK enough.  The real problem is Brazil, not Brasilia.