Crisis averted or damage done? With US Lawmakers reaching a debt ceiling deal (kicking the can again) should we really feel good? Markets liked it; yet I think we can expect more of the same early next year. Partisan politics appear so bitter that it is difficult to imagine what the long term circuit breaker is here? Without question a long term solution is needed to the political aspects and the structural deficit. Both D & R will need to yield some ground - but will they? A politician thinks of the next election. A statesman, of the next generation.-James Freeman Clarke. We need more statesman.