Leandro Pessoto

The aim of this work is to analyze the countercyclical action performed by state-owned banks in the Brazilian financial system after the contagion effect of the global financial crisis of 2008/2009, from the theoretical perspective of post-Keynesian approach, specifically focused on the analysis of financial instability proposed by Minsky. The research methods used were the research literature on the subject and empirical evidence through official data and documents of financial institutions and the Central Bank of Brazil. The state-owned banks examined restricted to the three largest Brazilian public financial institutions - Caixa Econômica Federal (CEF), the Banco do Brasil (BB) and the Banco Nacional de Desenvolvimento Econômico e Social (BNDES). The results showed the role of endogenous stabilizing state-owned banks. Acting as a reverse logic to private institutions, the Brazilian state-owned banks reduced the inherently cyclical behavior of the financial market, softening the movement of contraction in the international financial crisis of 2008/2009, contributing to the return of economic growth and to reduce the trend financial embrittlement agents.