Credit and Ideology: The Policy of Payroll Deducted Credit during the Workers' Party Years^*

Despite its recent growth, the academic literature on credit displays theoretical controversies and empirical differences regarding the predominant effects of consumer credit policies. At the same time, such policies have been given central importance in the historical accounts of a government that adopted them on a large scale in Brazil: the Lula government. Drawing upon theoretical debates and descriptive content, this article aims to contribute to the existing literature by examining the trajectory of Brazilian credit policies from the perspective of its main proponents. In addition, to the analysis of relevant documents, this study is based on interviews with three groups responsible for defending the payroll deducted credit policy, the most important credit policy adopted in terms of adherence and stability in the country: 01. bureaucrats from the Ministry of Finance; 02. unionists and lawmakers linked to labor unions; and 03. financial entrepreneurs, especially those organized in Febraban. We demonstrate that, for each of these groups, the payroll deducted policy carried a specific goal and context, being framed within different arrangements of public policies. Furthermore, the involvement of each group shaped the design assumed by the policy, while the overlapping of different stakeholders optimized its chances of implementation in the legislative arena.

Credit policies; Lulism; payroll deducted credit; microfinance; unionism