On January 1, 2019, Michel Temer concluded his brief and turbulent stint as Brazil’s president. He took office in May 2016 amid the controversial impeachment of Dilma Rousseff and became a highly consequential president despite occupying the chair for less than three years.
His administration passed harsh austerity measures — including a labor reform which failed to create the jobs it promised, and a 20-year federal spending cap which succeeded in taming the public deficit. It also left a pipeline of privatizations and other reforms which are arguably the only economic legacy the Jair Bolsonaro government has...
