A friend in Australia asked me about the financial and political crisis in Washington. I replied:
I’m not sure it is a crisis in Washington. I think that’s media hype. We’ve had 17 government shutdowns (actually, 82% of federal employees remained on the job during the past three weeks) over the past 40 years. It’s just like labor negotiations that come down to the last day, or even have a few days of strike.
Politics is more partisan than it has ever been in the US and the country is pretty evenly divided. For investors, the US remains the safest place in the world to put your money.
Since the 2010 elections, the Tea Party has put a stop to the rise in federal spending. It’s been even the past three years, and with an adjustment for inflation, it has been dramatically reduced.
Obamacare’s health exchanges have been a technical disaster but I have no idea what will happen as a result. I should qualify for some sort of healthcare next year, which will be nice, as I have not had health insurance for the past 18 months. If I ever need care, which I haven’t, I can go to some free clinics around town or to the crappy county hospitals in downtown LA.
