Leaders | Brazil’s dire decade

Jair Bolsonaro is not the only reason his country is in a ditch

The political system that helped him win office needs deep reform

HOSPITALS ARE full, favelas echo with gunfire and a record 14.7% of workers are unemployed. Incredibly, Brazil’s economy is smaller now than it was in 2011—and it will take a lot of strong quarters like the one reported on June 1st to repair its reputation. Brazil’s death toll from covid-19 is one of the worst in the world. The president, Jair Bolsonaro, jokes that vaccines might turn people into crocodiles.

This article appeared in the Leaders section of the print edition under the headline “Brazil’s dismal decade”

The new geopolitics of big business

From the June 5th 2021 edition

Discover stories from this section and more in the list of contents

Explore the edition

More from Leaders

A lighter engraved with "TAXES US. Department of state", symbolising financial burden

Despite fears of a global tax war, Donald Trump has a chance to make peace

A global minimum tax on companies ought to be acceptable to America

An employee works inside a nuclear facility in Isfahan, Iran

How to use “maximum pressure” to stop an Iranian bomb

The Islamic Republic is closer than ever to obtaining nukes


Milei, Modi, Trump: an anti-red-tape revolution is under way

Done right, deregulation could kick-start economic growth


By cutting off assistance to foreigners, America hurts itself

Donald Trump’s chaotic aid freeze makes his country weaker

The real meaning of the DeepSeek drama

The Chinese model-maker has panicked investors. But it is good for the users of AI

Rwanda does a Putin in Congo

To understand the seizure of Goma, consider a parallel with Ukraine