Populismo y Reforma Previsional en Mexico y Brasil
The recent elections in Latin America’s two largest economies have resulted in two new presidential administrations that are committed to pension reform. The two leaders face distinct policy challenges: unlike Brazil, Mexico had implemented a paradigmatic reform that included privatization. The Mexican reform will likely focus on rolling back defined contribution (DC) accounts in favor of expanded defined benefit (DB) schemes. The Brazilian reform will like emphasize scaling back the DB scheme and may promote DC. While both presidents have been described as populist, they were elected by differing constituencies with distinct political platforms. Populism is not new to Latin America, and has played a role in the emergence of the region’s pensions systems. This paper assesses the role that politics and populism now plays in the reform process in Latin America’s two largest economies.