In the period following the end of the Second World War and the exhaustion of the Estado Novo, Simonsen concentrated on the debate about the role of planning and Latin American economic development, topics that the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) would later take on as an object of more systematic assessment, which led many analysts to place Simonsen as one of the forerunners of the developmentalist theories in vogue in the 1950s. In the process of re-democratisation, Simonsen collaborated with the creation of the Partido Social Democrático [Social Democratic Party] (PSD) and was elected senator for São Paulo in 1947. His short parliamentary experience included voting in favour of the removal from office of parliamentarians elected by the Partido Comunista Brasileiro [Brazilian Communist Party] (PCB). In 1946, he became the first economist to occupy one of the chairs of the Academia Brasileira de Letras [Brazilian Academy of Letters] (ABL). It was at the ABL headquarters, in May 1948, when he was greeting the Prime Minister of Belgium, Paul van Zuland, that the businessman, economist, leading industrialist and historian died. The image of a man of action, focused on work, as portrayed in the articles reporting his death, appears to have been solidified by the historiography surrounding his thought and actions.

Active Bibliography: SIMONSEN, Roberto, As Crises no Brasil, São Paulo, São Paulo Editora, 1930; SIMONSEN, Roberto, À margem da profissão, São Paulo, São Paulo Editora, 1932; SIMONSEN, Roberto, Aspectos da Economia Nacional, São Paulo, Empresa Graphica da “Revista dos Tribunaes”, 1935; SIMONSEN, Roberto, História Econômica do Brasil (1500-1822), 8th ed., São Paulo, Companhia Editora Nacional, 1978 (1st ed., 1937); SIMONSEN, Roberto, A indústria em face da economia nacional, São Paulo, Empresa Graphica da “Revista dos Tribunaes”, 1937; SIMONSEN, Roberto, Aspectos da história econômica do café, Rio de Janeiro, Instituto Histórico e Geográfico Brasileiro, 1938; SIMONSEN, Roberto, A evolução industrial do Brasil, São Paulo, FIESP, 1939; SIMONSEN, Roberto, Alguns aspectos da política econômica mais conveniente ao Brasil no período após-Guerra, São Paulo, FIESP, 1943; SIMONSEN, Roberto, Evolução Industrial do Brasil e outros estudos, org. by Edgar Carone, São Paulo, Companhia Editora Nacional, 1973; SIMONSEN, Roberto, GUDIN, Eugênio e VON DOELLINGER, Carla, A controvérsia do planejamento na economia brasileira, 3rd ed., Brasília, IPEA, 2010.

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