A brief note about the debt ceiling... 🫠

'Political pantomime' for an avoidable risk event 🤦🏻‍♂️

Experts warn the U.S. could lose the ability to finance its obligations later this year.

The debt ceiling is in the news again.

(I’m not going to offer a comprehensive explainer here. If you want an extremely short explainer, read JPMorgan’s “Quick shot: Guess who’s back, back again: Debt ceiling drama.“ If that’s not sufficient, Fidelity’s “US debt-ceiling debate heats up again“ has a little more meat. For something comprehensive, check out Wells Fargo’s “Your Guide to the Looming Debt Ceiling Showdown.“ For a roundup of Wall Street analysts’ thoughts on how all this could unfold, scroll down to the footnotes.¹)

At least some policymakers will look to take advantage of the issue to advance their political interests, shouting platitudes about fiscal responsibility. And media outlets will cover it obsessively, as nothing draws viewer interest quite like fear and outrage.

[Read: Beware alarming business stories that get a lot of news coverage 🗞️]

But this really isn’t about fiscal responsibility. It’s about whether or not the U.S. government will pay the bills for spending that lawmakers approved long ago.