Abstract

The paper investigates the path of the profit rate and its components in Brazil
between 1950 and 2020. The high growth in developmentalism, 1950-1980, in contrast to the
great stagnation in neoliberalism, 1980-2020, is interpreted based on the rate of profit and its
components: the profit share, the productivity of capital and the level of capacity utilization.The fall in the rate of profit due to the decline in capital productivity resulted in a slowdown
in the rate of capital accumulation and economic growth. In the 1980-2020 period there was
a structural break in the relationship between productive investment and profits with the
adoption of neoliberalism, the same profit rate resulted in lower capital accumulation. The
great stagnation is explained by the fall in the profit rate and the adoption of neoliberalism.

JEL Classification: E25; N16; O30.