The apparent failure of the congressional deficit reduction super committee to reach any agreement is not the disaster it is being portrayed as by some commentators. As we argued in our most recent US Economics Weekly, there was never any risk of a government shutdown or a debt default and the failure is unlikely to lead to an immediate credit rating downgrade, particularly not as it will trigger $1.2trn in additional reductions to planned spending over the next decade. Most tellingly, Treasury yields have actually fallen today, which suggests that bond investors are still far more worried about the fiscal crisis in the euro-zone.