Just as the Humphrey-Hawkins legislation in the 1970s put a new burden on the U.S. Federal Reserve, that of seeking full employment, so did Madame Lagarde appear to add a mission for the IMF, which was founded after World War II to help manage international capital flows to ward off balance-of-payment crises.

FORBES: Humphrey-Hawkins Meets the IMF

Gold fund flows, meanwhile, fell off a cliff.

FORBES: Gold Funds Decline Most In Last Week Of February

As other parts of the region catch up, and as the novelty of heading west wears off, the heavy flows of recent years may be ending.

ECONOMIST: Migration

Were Tokyo to do otherwise it would be, at best, garnering the fleeting favor of its G-7 allies who are anxious to fob off onto Japan a substantial portion of the billions in new money flows promised to the former Soviet Union.

CENTERFORSECURITYPOLICY: Center For Security Policy

Investors are better off finding companies with solid fundamentals, low debt, and good cash flows, almost as if investing in equities.

FORBES: Don't Dump Your Junk

"We would not expect, given the strength of the flows, that intervention would materially change the level of the exchange rate, but we could take potentially the tops off rallies, " said Graeme Wheeler, governor of The Reserve Bank of New Zealand.

WSJ: Asian Governments Take Measures to Battle Strong Currencies

If in the process of preserving those cash flows, the politicians who get them block the raising of the debt ceiling, we could experience a sell-off in U.S. government securities which would raise interest rates here and could put the brakes on economic growth globally.

FORBES: Pushing U.S. Closer to the Brink