Economic Planning and Capital Internationalization in Brazil (1956–1961): the Plano de Metas, its Results, and Constraints

Abstract

This article revisits the Plano de Metas (Goals Plan), examining the relationship established between Brazilian economic planning and foreign capital during the period 1956–1961. The analysis begins with the origins of economic planning in Brazil and proceeds to show how the achievement of the plan’s priority targets was closely linked to the process of capital internationalization. The results reveal that the “progress” experienced by Brazilian industry during that period stemmed largely from the action of foreign capital, which, once it penetrated the national economic sphere, was able to subordinate the implementation of the plan to its own interests.