Antônio Delfim Netto

Antônio Delfim Netto (Brazilian Portuguese pronunciation:; 1 May 1928 – 12 August 2024) was a Brazilian economist, academic, and politician who served as a congressman and as Minister of Finance, Minister of Agriculture, and Minister of Planning.

Under Netto's tenure as Minister of Finance, Brazil experienced a period of unprecedented economic growth – the so-called Economic Miracle –, which was driven by a heterodox, developmentalist planning model reliant on low wages, a rapidly rising export rate, and massive inflows of foreign capital.

Netto added another layer of meaning to the "cake theory". According to him, the cake should rise before it could be shared; hence, economic growth would be an appropriate way to address the rampant inequality Brazil faced. Delfim Netto died in São Paulo on 12 August 2024, at the age of 96.