Many countries eschewed their past habit of abusing a boom to borrow.

ECONOMIST: Latin America's economies

For the past few years I have satisfied my five cup a day habit with an Italian stovetop moka pot by Bialetti, the hourglass shaped design you see in almost every Italian kitchen.

FORBES: The Rolex of Coffee Makers - How Swiss-Made Precision Changed My Life

As the past two years' rollercoaster has shown, market forces have a confounded habit of reasserting themselves.

ECONOMIST: Mission impossible

One is that inflation spurts out of control, prompting a return to the Brazilian habit of automatically adjusting prices and wages against past inflation.

ECONOMIST: Brazil and the IMF

That is, over the past generation the most selective schools in the country got into the habit of listing a high sticker price and then discounting that price as needed in order to fill a class.

FORBES