The political crisis traversed by Lula´s first Presidential Administration provided a rare window to analyze the relationship between the world of finance and Brazilian society. The succession of scandals and the reactions to them triggered and unveiled the way in which financial trends depend on the cognitive framings that are produced beyond their boundaries and control. An analysis of how the scandals are produced and the reactions they spark thus shows how society shapes, reinforces, or challenges the conditions in the financial environment, thus highlighting the possibilities and limits of constraints imposed by finances on Brazilian society in the early 21st century.