by Patrick J. Buchanan – January 15, 1999

Christmas 1997, I ran into a former U.S. ambassador to Brazil and predicted that country’s currency, the real, would have to be devalued. He bet me a dinner it would not — by Jan. 1, 1999. I lost by 13 days, thanks to a $41.5 billion International Monetary Fund bailout of Brazil.

As predicted, however, all the IMF accomplished was to put another fortune in U.S. tax dollars at risk and kick the can up the road.