Pursuits
Brazil's in Crisis and This Blue-Collar Town Couldn't Be Happier
- Manufacturing output atrophied during commodities frenzy
- Now that currency collapsed, exporters see better times ahead
This article is for subscribers only.
Not many people in Brazil look back on the crisis-plagued years from the late 1980s to the early 1990s as a golden era. But the people of Franca do.
The country’s capital for men’s footwear is among large sections of Brazil that watched their manufacturing sectors atrophy in the emerging-market frenzy and commodities boom of the 2000s. Now the nation’s currency has collapsed, making Brazilian exports cheaper, and Franca is looking ahead to better days.