What does it take for international markets to panic? With the debt ceiling due to be hit in a little more than a week, the short answer is that the “full faith and credit of the United States” is still worth quite a lot. We’re only starting to see the first signs of a panic as an auction of 1-month TBills sold at a net rate of 0.355%. If that doesn’t impress you, it’s worth noting that it was one third that a week ago.
Stocks started falling, too, with the DJIA losing just over a percent.
Allright, it’s not much. Gold isn’t budging above $1330 or so per ounce and benchmark 10yr TBills are still comfy at 2.64%. These are probably the best standards to watch for signs of panic as the stalemate goes nowhere.
It worked so well before, right?
As we have noted before, the economy has been poised for a good holiday season and possibly a general take-off immediately after. 2013 has been shaping up as the year we hoped it would be. 2010 was the bottom, 2011 was the first sign of recovery, and 2012 was the foundation. This year has been all about normalizing real growth into something that investors and the working public would start to believe in.
How much has this been screwed up? Gallup does a weekly poll of economic confidence, asking 3,500 people two questions – rate economic conditions in this country today and are economic conditions in the country as a whole are getting better or worse? This poll just suffered its biggest one week loss since the collapse of Lehman in 2008, all in reaction to the shutdown. And this is without considering the damage a default would do.
The other sign that things are getting a little panicky is that banks are indeed stocking up ATMs with extra cash, anticipating a run. Ready for a repeat of 1929?
You were expecting a holiday season in Whoville?
But without movement in the 10yr TBill and Gold we can’t call this a real panic, not by a longshot. We’re only seeing the first prudent signs that people with money are taking a few steps to cover their butts and the general public is frustrated. It’s enough to spoil the holidays, at least if this lingers much longer, but it’s not nasty.
Meanwhile, in China, Vice Finance Minister Zhu Guangyao is still being very polite, despite their having $2.4T on the line. “We ask that the United States earnestly take steps to resolve in a timely way the political issues around the debt ceiling and prevent a debt default,” he said. “This is the United States’ responsibility.”
So everyone is playing nice, except for the American consumers. Their stand is probably based on their knowing someone who has been put out of work by the shutdown or having been otherwise inconvenienced by it. There is no reflection of the potential for a real financial Armageddon on the order of Lehman in any of the data we can find yet.
Gold Bugs are usually wrong, but when they are right they let you know in a big way.
If things are to change and someone is going to get desperate, what would be the first sign? It’s very hard to tell, but it seems that ordinary workers and consumers are probably going to flinch first. That would imply that gold will be the first thing to move, but this is only a guess. It’s probably worth watching a little bit of everything if you want to play the momentum of a market stampede.
Then again, the best move might be to hide away and not pay attention to anything until this is all over. Without government agencies to feed us official stats, the real damage won’t be known until it is long over. Right now, a month long shutdown might cost $50B.
That is the price of having an utterly dysfunctional Republican Party. Expensive, isn’t it?
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Dysfunctional Republican Party? I beg to differ, Mr. Hare.
A political impasse does not make dysfunctional the Republican Party.
Pres. Obama needs to meet with Speaker Boehner and make an agreement.
A famous Virginian in 1775 once said
“Our petitions have been slighted; our remonstrances have produced additional…insult; our supplications have been disregarded; and we have been spurned, with contempt, from the foot of the throne.”
That was said by Patrick Henry. That’s how Republicans feel today. Their President isn’t returning their phone calls.
President Obama should stop playing politics and call John Boehner for a meeting.
The idea of a bicameral legislature combined with a presidential veto is, according to James Madison, the method for producing moderation. Why doesn’t President Obama make that call?
I do not mind a major disagreement fought out in the open. I do mind it when everything is turned into a crisis, especially the debt ceiling crisis which would be a real catastrophe. And it’s especially difficult when the leader of the House side, Boehner, said repeatedly that he didn’t think such brinksmanship was appropriate.
Things are changing, more on that below, but the way this started was not a good way to conduct a healthy fight which the nation does indeed need, IMHO.
I don’t know why people aren’t panicing yet, this congress is crazy.
And the tactic employed (not a strategy, as it lacked an endgame) backfired horribly: http://www.gallup.com/poll/165317/republican-party-favorability-sinks-record-low.aspx
the masters trust their servants in congre$$, may be a fatal mistake
It would be interesting if congress turned on the money people of the US, right? Especially if it came from the Republicans / Tea Party first.
They are a bunch of children who should never have been put in charge of anything. I started to panic a long time ago.
Panic or exasperation? 🙂
As least they are children with a good sense of adventure.
It appears that Paul Ryan of Wisconsin is playing a constructive role in the budget impasse.
Ryan is the once and future president.
I fully agree that Ryan is showing excellent leadership and is bringing up important issues that do have to be dealt with. However, I still think that passing an actual budget would be far, far better as a way to address this.
One thing that President Obama has done in the past is change his goals. That is not helpful in negotiations and does not build the relationship with Republicans. For example, in negotiations previously he said we wanted something like $600 million in new revenue. Then he changed it to $1 Trillion. This was in negotiations with John Boehner. President Obama should bargain in better faith in the future.
You know that I find far more fault with Republicans and do not like the “false equivalency” of blaming both parties for the creation of this situation. However, I will agree that both are constantly hardening their positions and digging in more and more – which is not at all helpful. They really do not trust each other at all, which suggests that no negotiations would ever work.
When you are on the wings of public opinion, sometimes a bit of political jujitsu is necessary.
It is somewhat distasteful but they have want to attract attention and express themselves. They are not like a potted plant, keeping quiet.
A possibility for the future is that the far right opens up space for a center right coalition. Someone savvy in the center can find opportunities. But it somewhat depends on where the persuadables are.
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