This article investigates the growth regime prevailing in the Brazilian economy from 2001 to 2009 by presenting a theoretical model that underpins the empirical research concerning the Brazilian economy. The results show that, internally, the growth regime of the Brazilian economy is wage-led, but when considering the external sector it can be characterized as profit-led. This has important implications for a conventional analysis of the effects of a depreciation of the exchange rate on domestic production. More specifically, depreciation in the exchange rate tends to have expansionary effects on domestic production.