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We revisit the recent past of the Brazilian economy in an attempt to present an alternative characterization of the nature of the late 1990s crisis. The theoretical basis of this analysis is Marxian political economy. This choice is justified by the contraposition between the Marxian theory of overproduction cyclical crisis and the most popular currency crisis theories, revealing that while the latter focus on the phenomenon's appearance, the former analyzes it in depth. The analysis of capital accumulation during Brazil's Real Plan shows that the examined crisis can be characterized as another manifestation of the aforementioned phenomenon: the overproduction cyclical crisis. JEL Classification: B51, E32, N16 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article employs Miyazawa's method to investigate the interaction between productive and unproductive sectors during the 2002–2014 period in Brazil. The results showed a growing dependence of productive on unproductive sectors together with a rise in the unproductive share in the economy, particularly after 2008. Our findings stressed the relationship between the rising importance of unproductive industries and lower total output growth, as emphasized by the classical-Marxian literature. JEL Classification: B51, C67, P16 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the effects of the flexibilization of working time in terms of gender segmentation in the labor market. It proposes and analyzes eight categories of women's participation in the labor market and the effects of flexibilization on each of them. By using household survey data and case studies, the research shows that some forms of flexibilization reinforce the sexual division of labor, for example, low pay for precarious, part-time home-based work, and low social status that perpetuate caregiving roles for women in the private realm. Concurrently, forms of flexibilization associated with better pay do not consider the existing sexual division of labor, in that they demand women's total availability for work, thus impacting their careers and lives negatively. JEL Classification : J01, J16, D63 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This essay aims at providing a novel analytical framework based on the concept of "duality" as proposed by the Brazilian economist Ignacio Rangel. In this portrayal, neoliberal policies are the consequence of the reinforcement of the dual character of the Brazilian society, which induces the economic outcomes of financialization and regression amid institutional change that (re)position class asymmetries. In this scheme, redistributive welfare state measures are of key importance to maintaining social cohesion and political support and, therefore, enabling the harmonization of these conflicting objectives in a neoliberal economic agenda. In this framework, the current Brazilian right-wing extremism and crisis is the outcome of such long-term entanglement in which democratic mediation is jeopardized. JEL Classification : B51, P16 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article presents a set of comparative data related to racial inequality in the United States and Brazil throughout the twenty-first century. Within the limitations of available data, we highlight four limited but important dimensions, that is, demography, education, the labor market, and earnings that illustrate racial inequality in both countries. In doing so, we aim to investigate and critically update Andrews's work (1992) on the last three decades with available data. Despite some improvements in absolute terms related to racial inequities, we show that in both Brazil and the United States, economic growth periods do not necessarily mean that income among blacks is catching up with that of whites. Similarly, in both countries, economic crisis and recovery phases are experienced differently depending on the individual's race. JEL Classification: D31, D63, J7, J15 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]