Brazil is the most populous economy in Latin America with the second highest GDP among the
emerging BRIC economies after China and the second per capita GDP among the BRIC economies
after Russia. The objective of this book is to provide a thorough historical statistical and
institutional description of the factors that affect and are affected by Brazil¿s international
trade and integration with the world economy. It includes a most recent account of what is
presently going on in Brazil and the type of economy from which Brazil is emerging. The authors
use Brazil as a case study and explain both the process and the outcome of international
economic integration by analyzing in each chapter a different contributing factor to the
benefits and costs from Brazil¿s economic interdependency with the world economy. This makes
the reading of this book extremely valuable. The topics addressed in this book will increase
the reader¿s awareness of the institutional economic and cultural forces that shape the
dynamism of Brazil¿s international trade and integration with the world economy and will
continue to do so in future years.
