During the second half of the twentieth century, the industrial base of the Brazilian economy both deepened and broadened. At the same time, the nation's presence in the global trade of commodities and manufactured goods took on new dimensions, and economic governance evolved to promote industrial growth. This book has demonstrated both the interrelationships of these three developments and the very long-term trajectory that culminated in these outcomes. Minerals, more specifically iron ore, have been an ever-present nexus throughout the history. Furthermore, the impact of iron ore development has extended into a wide venue of activities.

Understanding how Brazil initiated the path by which it emerged as one of the world's major producers of iron ore supports two fundamental conclusions. First, in the case of minerals – with high risk, long time-horizons, asymmetric information, capital intensity and large but subtle externalities – development efforts required the confluence of circumstances and the shifting weight of important interest groups. Successfully mediating these complications required centuries, important shifts of economic and political structure, and new arrangements with respect to the institutions of property, capital markets and economic governance. Secondly, a substantial expansion in the economic role of the state conciliated new with entrenched interests. The process of reaching these conclusions complicates the understanding of institutional change, emphasizing interactions among a variety of institutions and between resources and institutions.