The Debt Ceiling

The folks at Barron’s Advisor, recently printed an open letter to our elected officials in Washington, D.C.

Dear Washington Politicians,

If you start a fire then later extinguish it, you can’t act like a hero—particularly after having threatened to let the flames spread. 

And when the possibility of a debt default sends ripples throughout global markets, you can’t thump your chest even if a last-minute deal is struck to raise the $31.4 trillion debt ceiling.

Strutting like partisan peacocks, you proudly subject everyone to needless brinkmanship so that you can appear “tough” to your constituents and tell them that you “fought the good fight.” 

The risk/reward ratio for all involved skews towards risk both financially as well as reputationally.

Odds favor a resolution before the deadline but deal or not, neither side can credibly claim to be a winner. 

“Losing,” however, would be tangible and painful.

When a global superpower is centerstage because its leaders cannot agree on how to responsibly deal with debt that it irresponsibly amassed, we are all diminished.