National sovereignty and consumer sovereignty: Some consequences of Brazil's economic opening

Brazil's move toward greater openness in its foreign trade and capital account since the 1980s, reflects a weakening of the exercise of national sovereignty for economic objectives. In this paper, we argue that consumer sovereigntyhas been correspondingly increased. There are costs and benefits to Brazil from both kinds of sovereignty. Increasing constraints on macroeconomic policy making have been accompanied by an increase in the choices open to many individuals. The latter increase, however, has been limited by a highly skewed distribution of income, which has persisted despite theprofound changes in economic policy.