Exchange rate policy, class conflict and economic development from Furtado’s view

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to analyze the contributions of Celso Furtado regarding the role of exchange rate policy and its relation to social conflict in the economic growth of peripheral economies. For that, we revisit Furtado’s analyses about the Venezuelan case and in The Economic Formation of Brazil. We highlight two main conclusions from such works: i) exchange rate appreciation due to a natural resources curse harms economic growth; ii) exchange rate policy is mainly a phenomenon associated with political economy, in which social conflict emerges. Hence, we claim that Furtado’s analyses are still significant today.