The editors of this volume bring together a group of scholars to examine the economic challenges and opportunities that confront Latin America"s largest and most populous nation. They propose a new growth paradigm for the Brazilian economy and explain why the previous model has become obsolete. The economies of Brazil and other Latin American nations are contrasted with such Asian countries as South Korea and Taiwan, showing how US aid to Asia in the 1950s continues to make a difference today. The authors identify the Brazilian socio-economic groups hardest hit by the elimination of state intervention and explain how those groups can compensate through increased efficiency. Finally, they explore both negative and positive effects of greater regional co-operation, as well as the growing need for incentives to research and development. Yet the key question - whether the political will and consensus exist to meet such basic challenges as raising the living standards of Brazil"s huge, impoverished population - remains unanswered. Will the new government continue the economic restructuring? What will the political and social consequences be of a deepening of the reform process?