Brazil, represented by the iShares MSCI Brazil Index Fund (NYSEArca:EWZ) has also been relatively weak as South America's biggest economy steps up efforts to cool inflation as well. Specifically, tax cuts that are adding to the federal budget deficit, plus the Fed's "quantitative easing," highlight my concerns that policies designed to stimulate the economy could now be counterproductive. As one economist pointed out at this year's "Inside ETFs" Conference in Florida, transfer payments such as welfare and unemployment benefits now make up 20 percent of disposable income in the U.S.