How Did The Economy Affect Brazil's Economy

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Following World War I, there was a time of great economic growth, where there were many changes in culture and society. This time period was known as the Roaring 20s. This period of outstanding financial growth and booming free market did not last forever. In 1929, the Stock Market crashed, and signified the beginning of a difficult time. In the months and years that followed, large parts of the world were thrown into terrible financial troubles, mass unemployment and a worldwide economic depression, known as the Great Depression (GD). The GD lasted for over a decade. The GD affected many countries, however not every country had similar paths to the GD. In particular, Brazil and the United States had marginally similar, through tariffs, but …show more content…

Brazil’s economy was extremely dependent upon only one product, in broad contrast with the US, who depended on many different products. Brazil was dependent upon coffee, the sales and exports, for up to 70% of their economy. This was extremely problematic, because if tariffs and sales taxes on imported goods in other countries increased, Brazil was extremely screwed. And those tariffs and sales taxes did increase. They increased enough that in 1931, Brazil was selling their coffee for 8 cents a pound, whereas in 1929 they had been selling it for 22.5 cents a pound. Brazil had hoped that their valorization program would continue to work here. The valorization program was a program where the Brazilian government bought and stored coffee during times when there was no demand. When the demand went back up, the coffee was sold again. This worked well after WWI, but during the Great Depression it failed, mainly due to an almost circular problem. The government bought coffee and stored it when demand was low, they had to borrow money from the US and other countries to raise the funds to buy the coffee from planters, but demand was low and the US stopped approving loans due to not seeing coffee as a safe business opportunity, causing the government to not be able to afford to buy the coffee. This is a huge reason that Brazil fell into the Great Depression. They couldn’t buy things, they couldn’t get loans, and they most certainly could not sell

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