Like a vaccine they offer a public good as well as a private one in that they curb the rate of viral transmission.

ECONOMIST: AIDS microbicides: An ounce of prevention | The

Today's falling fertility rate will curb the flow.

ECONOMIST: A falling birth rate, and what it means

Its decision to press ahead now is part of stepped-up efforts since early last year, including two interest-rate rises, to curb speculation in the property market and show the poor it cares.

ECONOMIST: China's property market

Under the present governor, Duvvuri Subbarao, a softly spoken figure, it has made a tough series of rate rises in the past two years to try to curb a stubborn spell of inflation (a battle that may not be over).

ECONOMIST: The Reserve Bank of India

Last month, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) lowered its key interest rate for the second time in three months in a bid to curb inflation.

BBC: India's Rahul Gandhi calls for 'inclusive' growth

That having bureaucrats and government deciding upon prices, negotiating with suppliers, using the sheer weight of money at their disposal to get better prices, would curb the way that health care seems to have its own, higher, inflation rate.

FORBES: Bending the Health Care Cost Curve

If inflation continues to decline in the months ahead, as the government expects following four months of monetary and fiscal measures designed to curb credit and cash flow, then the Central Bank will likely keep the Selic rate unchanged barring any surprises in demand in the third quarter.

FORBES: Brazil Rate Hikes Likely Done For the Year

The immediate challenge for central bankers is how to curb the unusual spike in the cost that banks charge to lend to each other, via the London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR).

ECONOMIST: The crisis in the debt markets