Yet it may take a less improvised tax system, as well as proof that the Fiscal Responsibility Law really does bite, to persuade investors that Brazil has finally given up its profligate old ways.

ECONOMIST: Progress and pitfalls in Brazil��s public finances

Is this time really different from all the other times that the political system managed to wiggle free from the demands of fiscal responsibility?

FORBES: Washington Budget Wars Poised To Devastate Military Communities