In-depth article by The Economist on the grim outlook of the U.S. economy: a lousy debt deal, rising fears of a recession, the danger of longer-term stagnation.
America's recovery from a balance-sheet recession was always bound to be sluggish and fragile. And its woes need not fell the world economy, thanks to the strength of emerging markets. But the thoughtlessness of the debt deal -- notably its failure to tackle any of the real sources of America's fiscal problems, such as entitlement spending -- raises a bigger worry. Can the country's politicians, so starkly polarised and so willing to gamble with the economy, be trusted not to turn what was always an inevitable period of hardship into longer-term stagnation?