Since President Jair Bolsonaro election in 2018, his neoliberal economic tsar Paulo Guedes always had in mind the possibility of carrying out a huge privatization agenda in Brazil, which, according to him, would entail a massive reduction in the size of the state in order to finally move the country past its recession years.
But Mr. Guedes’ plans have failed, and of today he has not managed to privatize a single state-owned company in over two years of his controversial administration — something that “frustrates” the Chicago-trained economist. This year, as recession still looms over Brazil, due to...