Questão 554482

Read the text below in order to answer questions 16 to 20:

The Latin American Economies

For decades, the economies of Latin America were heavily protected. Government ownership of industry was widespread. Foreign investment was minimal. The theory was that to end dependence on basic commodities (coffee, sugar, copper), industries had to be protected against bigger – usually U.S. – companies. Nationalism and economics made a marriage of convenience.

But beginning in the 1980s, Latin governments changed, because economic performance was dismal and Asia’s example was instructive. The phrase “Washington consensus” was soon coined by economist John Williamson of the Institute for International Economics to denote the policies that the U.S. government and Washington-based institutions ( the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund) were advocating: lower tariffs, higher foreign investment, tighter budgets, less inflation.

Brazil exemplified the shift. In 1985, tariffs averaged 80 percent; by 2000, they were 15 percent. Privatization of nationalized companies exploded; from 1996 to 2001, Brazil received nearly \$150 billion in foreign direct investment. As The Economist notes, the changes have benefited Brazil. Hyperinflation ( exceeding 1,000 percent annually ) was conquered. But there was no permanent boom, and since 1999, the economy has slowed.

According to the text, Brazil