Da arte de conhecer as doenças: o diagnóstico da Economia Mineira de 1968 e o planejamento do desenvolvimento de Minas Gerais

The issue of politically oriented regional development occupies an important place in the Economic History of Minas Gerais during the republican period. Since the start of the 20th century, and throughout the most important transformative stages of the Brazilian economic system, notably between the 1930s and 1960s, overcoming underdevelopment and the peripheral position of the state has been a priority for the elites of Minas. For a variety of reasons that we will attempt to demonstrate, we understand that it is essential to study the Diagnóstico da Economia Mineira, published in 1968, by the Banco de Desenvolvimento de Minas Gerais (BDMG), if the goal is to understand the vicissitudes of the state’s economic development, especially considering the aforementioned priority. This study emphasizes the meaning of this rich document, especially the long-lived institutional relationships and theoretical matrixes that lent it legitimacy and made it suited it to its time. The text is structured in three coplementary parts: i) description and analysis of the document; ii) brief background of developmentism in Minas Gerais during the republican period; iii) presentation of four case studies about the themes of the Diagnóstico: transportation, electric energy, sugar industry and steel making.