Frantic deal-making over the weekend appears to have clinched a $2.4 trillion US debt ceiling deal, with $900 billion in initial spending cuts
and the rest to be determined by a committee over the autumn. The White House has the official statement here.
There’s still a chance the deal will fail in the House, but Republicans are sounding
bullish. And Democrats will probably fall into line — not the least because the expiration of the Bush tax cuts over the next couple years could balance the current ‘all-cuts’
proposal.
Of course, negotiations could breakdown over the next 48 hours, but it’s now clear that, despite their rhetoric, US politicians ‘get it’ and fear the consequences of a default.
With that out of the way, I’m fairly sanguine because the basic challenge — agreeing to fulfil previous spending commitments — is not intrinsically difficult, and because the
government has the option
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