Marcelo Gomes Pereira da Silva

Marcelo Gomes Pereira da Silva, from Goiânia (Brazil) is a gratuate student who received his Bachelor’s degree in International Relations at the Pontiphical Catholic University of Goiás in 2016. In 2018, he started a M.Sc. in Innovation, Human Development and Sustainability at the University of Geneva. He was an intern at the Brazilian Permanent Mission to the World Trade Organization. His interests include development studies, human rights, inequalities and income distribution. E-mail: marcelo.gomesri@gmail.com.

Abstract

Historically colonized by the Portuguese, Brazilian institutional foundations were based on slavery, monopolies and latifundia. This resulted in a set of pre-liberal institutional constructions which led to Acemoglu’s definition of extractive institutions. Brazil´s development throughout history is mostly embedded by a set of non-inclusive institutions, forged by the ruling elite and its interests. After a decade of social improvements in the 2000´s, recently elected President Bolsonaro plans to pass a neoliberal pension system reform, which weakens the social protection system. The government ignores other Latin American similar neoliberal experiences as tried in Chile, where the system decreased the living conditions of the retired population increasing the levels of income inequality. Using a critical political economy perspective in a comparative way, considering geographical and historical aspects, this paper discusses how this new pension reform may contribute to the deepening of the traditional economic inequalities in Brazil and the possible social outcomes.

Keywords

Brazil; Chile; Economics; Inequality; Social Protection; Pension Reform.