The restructuring of domestic credit system and the early recovery of the Brazilian economy in the 1930s

Abstract

At the end of 1928, the Brazilian economy began to experience an economic slowdown, driven by the retraction of domestic credit, due to the increase in bank hoarding combined with an already weak inflow of foreign capital. From the 1929 crisis onwards, the situation of domestic credit worsened substantially, due to the deteriorating terms of trade and, notably, to the capital flight. Given the operationality of the Gold Standard, the loss of reserve currency to which the Brazilian economy was subjected resulted in a retraction of the monetary base, with associated effects on the money supply (M1) and bank loans. This article analyzes the importance of restructuring the financial system at the time to the recovery of domestic credit and economic activity. The hypothesis held here is that this restructuring is a fundamental face of the early recovery process of the Brazilian economy, as it allowed the adoption of a countercyclical monetary policy and the expansion of credit by banking institutions.

Keywords:
Monetary policy; economic recovery, credit system; Great Depression (1929); money multiplier in the 1930s in Brazil