In their 2003 book “Saving Capitalism From Capitalists,” Raghuram Rajan and Luigi Zingales wrote that “relationship” capitalism would have to eventually make way for arms-length capitalism as economies matured. In Brazil, that turning point has yet to arrive. In economics, the expression “Brazil-like capitalism” denotes cronyism and distortions. Dealing with a confusing tax system and a fairly ineffective state, organized lobbies battle to protect their own—mostly at the government’s expense.
One such drain—Brazil’s enormous range of subsidies—could be closed, however....
