Some money-watchers have suggested that while Hong Kong continues to publicly stand by the linked-exchange rate peg of its currency to the U.S. dollar, behind the scenes it may be looking for alternatives.
The main argument for flexible exchange rates that led to their widespread adoption in the early 1970s was that they allow domestic policymakers to adopt policies appropriate to domestic conditions without the artificial constraint of an exchange rate peg.
The crises of the 1990s did, however, tend to have one thing in common: they all had some kind of fixed exchange rate, often a fixed peg or link to another currency, usually the dollar, or an exchange-rate band, again usually linked to the dollar.
One is the rigidity of its exchange-rate peg, and the strength of the dollar.
Hungary looks shakier than Poland, since it has smaller foreign-exchange reserves, more debt, and a tighter exchange-rate peg.
Until last week, for instance, Brazil's economy suffered from punishingly high interest rates needed to protect its exchange-rate peg.
As in Russia, attempts to shore up an exchange-rate peg with high interest rates and promises of financial support have failed.
Such is the political capital invested in the exchange-rate peg that Mr Cardoso might opt instead for default, or strong capital controls, or some mixture of the two.
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Despite an initial big fall in its currency, the real, after Brazil abandoned its exchange-rate peg, inflation in 1999 was within its target range at just under 9%.
There would, on the other hand, be a useful fall in interest rates, because investors would no longer demand a premium for the risk that the exchange-rate peg would be broken.
This is the value of an exchange-rate peg in an economy such as Hong Kong's: adjustment to external shocks takes place through changes to domestic prices, rather than through exchange-rate levels.
The government's ability to sustain the exchange-rate peg depends entirely on its ability to withstand the pain as a shrinking money supply forces interest rates higher and squeezes the local economy.
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With the benefit of hindsight, most economists have been critical of the August 2001 deal for Argentina, which simply postponed rather than prevented the collapse of the exchange-rate peg with the dollar and, with it, the country's banking system.
If the authority appears to be targeting not just the exchange rate, but interest rates too, then the government's commitment to the peg comes into doubt.
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