The comparison between poacher and gamekeeper was inevitable from the moment the Brazilian government put forward Armínio Fraga Neto's name as the new central bank president in February. In a matter of weeks Fraga has gone from star Wall Street investor to stout defender of the real, a currency tattered by repeated attacks from traders.
The comparisons may continue dogging both Fraga and the government as Brazil endures one of its worst recessions ever, faces a possible debt crisis and struggles politically.
Fraga, 42, seems uniquely qualified as firefighter. He holds a doctorate in economics, once served as the central bank's international director and worked at the former Salomon Brothers and Saõ Paulo's Banco Garantia, now owned by Credit Suisse First Boston. For the last six years he was managing director at Soros Asset Management in New York.
Francisco Gros, his former boss at the central bank and now at Morgan Stanley Dean Witter, says: "He has a Princeton PhD, he is a guy who has worked in the markets. It is not all theory, he has a lot of practical experience."
Fraga could establish his new credentials by moving interest rates down.