Our international economic reputation—reflected in our low interest rates, the safe haven status of Treasuries (when everything goes haywire, investors clamor for U.S. debt), and our status as global reserve currency—rests on the assumption that Washington isn’t completely insane. …Derek Thompson, Atlantic
Lotsa luck, America.
Besides Denmark, no other country I know of asks legislators to vote to pay for something they’ve already voted to pay for. The debt ceiling should not exist. But now that it does exist, it must be said again and again that it does not create new laws. It just affirms that we will pay for old laws. It’s not a smart scalpel for shaving the deficit, it’s a guillotine hanging over the head of the head of the country. …Derek Thompson, Atlantic
Washington is insane, or at least clueless (and arrogant) troublemakers in Washington have shown themselves to be completely asocial. They don’t give a flying for America, for their fellow citizens, or for our reputation. Did I hear Cruz continue his “talkathon” for 21 hours in spite of the fact that we’re now down to a matter of hours before our “full faith and credit” become a myth? And the Senate isn’t working? Then, too, the troublemakers are the ones who have complained over and over again about spending. But they’ve already cost us …. how much? Did I hear $19 billion… even if we don’t go over the cliff?
Even when the blade doesn’t fall, it can still have consequences. The Summer 2011 showdown that nearly resulted in default cost taxpayers $19 billion this decade in elevated interest rates as investor panic began to build. That’s the price of playing with the full faith and credit of the United States.
Just imagine what the “largest self-imposed financial disaster in history” would cost us. …Derek Thompson, Atlantic