The park has been updated since the 19th Century - the wacky "Eskimo village" is gone, and the Conservatory of Flowers was retro-fitted to keep the carnivorous plants from catchingcold - though if anything, the park has become even less tame.
The places most at risk of catching a cold from Brazil's sneeze are those maintaining fixed exchange rates notably Argentina (see article) but also Hong Kong.
Some of the irrational pessimism currently pervading Japan seems to be the result of an identity crisis to which many Japanese have fallen victim since the end of the cold war and the achievement of Japan's goal of catching up with the West.