SUMMARY
Summary: The debate on sequencing has revolved around two major issues: what sequencing can facilitate the implementation of reforms and maximize their net benefits, and what needs to be done to avoid reversibility. To shed new light on these two issues, the paper firstly reviews the literature on sequencing, which is organized within a historical perspective to the extent that the arguments can be associated with particular historical contexts or events. Secondly, the paper analyses the sequencing of liberalization reforms in Brazil in the 1990s, in particular the rationale behind the sequencing pursued which, unlike the conventional wisdom, had capital account liberalization implemented simultaneously with other major reforms. Was the order pursued compatible with sustainability? What, and how, political factors and policy objectives have influenced the order and pace of reforms? The study concludes that although there was a rationale behind the order of reforms undertaken, the analysis of a few key sustainability indicators show that the policyregime was not sustainable. This was explained by a combination of policy inconsistencies and the fact that the potential benefits of capital account liberalization, for example in the form of new flows of investment in the tradable sector, did not materialize in the levels originally envisaged
