Congressional elections will not be held until October, and it is unlikely that the majority elected will be free market in its orientation. And the stranglehold of special interests is strong. In the meantime, Brazil's inflation has gotten worse. For all of 1989, the rate of price inflation was 1,765 per cent the highest in the country's history. And the expectation was that 1990 would only see inflation go higher.
Brazil is a vast country, larger than the continental United States.
If left free and unshackled from government intrusion it could easily become an economic giant in the span of one generation. One can only hope that the supporters of the Instituto Liberal will succeed in persuading their fellow citizens of the ideals of limited government free markets, and sound money before their nation falls over the abyss of hyperinflation and into the resulting social devastation. Professor Ebeling is the Ludwig von Mises Professor of Economics at Hillsdale College in Michigan and also serves as Academic Vice-President of The Future of Freedom Foundation. To subscribe to the print version of Freedom Daily Click Here . All rights reserved.