This paper is an attempt to revisit the debate on economic development within the Brazilian heterodox tradition. We examine some aspects of the original Cepalâ€TMs accumulation theory and how Celso Furtado contributed to this approach through his stagnation hypothesis, and more importantly, with his particular Underdevelopment Theory. After this we present some criticism on the stagnation hypothesis and based, on the work by Conceição Tavares and José Serra, show how the Brazilian heterodox tradition incorporated the Principle of Effective Demand in its growth models. This theoretical shift defines the basic thrust of the Unicamp School. This basic discussion is used to analyze the interaction between income distribution and development. It is shown that different approaches, classical against effective demand, have different roles for the causal connection between these two variables.
economic development; history of economic thought; capital accumulation; Celso Furtado