[!@#$%!]

the biggest economic risk of a republican hijack of the budget is not falling short of fiscal goals, but the monetary result of dangerous flirtations with the debt ceiling which push the dollar further towards losing its status as *the* reserve currency of the world. this status is already under pressure from the rise of china as a global power, the reaction of authoritarian governments against western economic sanctions, etc.

this reserve status is what right now protects americans from feeling the full effects of inflation induced by global supply shocks and other risks. we get cheaper imports than anybody else with the dollar at historic highs so we don't feel the punch. and we can outbid anyone for what we need, while others can't. we have in fact exported inflation to the rest of the world.

the reserve status is also why the size of the national debt is not such a terrible burden. to see what happens when you destroy confidence in a currency look at the short lived government of liz truss.

biden's fiscal policy goals are already in place and are massive, even after the manchin/synema reductions. we now have an industrial policy codified within the inflation reduction act etc. that will play out over the next decade and beyond.

just because democrats are terrible communicators who can't properly tout their achievements it doesn't mean the industrial policy is not there. here are 2 polar opposite views of it: https://www.americanprogress.org/art...-quality-jobs/ https://reason.com/2022/10/17/bidens...-always-fails/ and here the more evenhanded and reasonable take: https://www.economist.com/united-sta...ith-difficulty