Pray the IMF's wizards will do better this time than they did in Asia or Russia, where their financial nostrums appear to have actually made matters worse. But Republicans in Congress are delaying appropriating new funds to the IMF, citing its many mistakes. They are right. Still, IMF should be supported - at least until Brazil's emergency passes. Brazil's economic collapse would pose grave dangers not only to the world financial structure, but to Latin America's political stability.
Brazil has a high explosion factor.
Sixty percent of Brazilians are dirt-poor blacks, marginalized from the economy and politics, kept sedated by soccer, samba, and carnival. A financial collapse will ignite violence and political extremism - and spread across Latin America. The financial world is overseen by three great economic powerhouses. Japan is overlord of Asia's finances. Western Europe dominates East Europe and Russia.