Part 1 of Essay
On January 12, 1999, over a billion dollars fled Brazil. Three days later, the Central Bank attempted to bring about a limited devaluation of the Brazilian currency, the real, but it failed to prevent a free fall. Over the next two days, another $3 billion was pulled out, and by the end of the month, the real had lost over ....

Part 2 of Essay
.... fiscal reform legislation in Congress; acute stress in the relationship between the federal government and the states; the risk of defaults on state and federal government debt as well as in the private sector; and astronomic and unsustainable interest rates. For Brazil's partners in Mercosurthe common market that joins Argentina, Paraguay, Uruguay, and Brazil-its plunge into recession and the quantum leap in the price of their own exports in the Brazilian market (especially for Argentina, which has locked its ow ....