An Econ. Quote

It is 8:51 pm on a Friday night and I am, sadly, studying for an Econ final. I never thought it possible, but there is a footnote in my text book that made me laugh out loud. . .

In 1995 the United States came close to suspending debt repayment while the president and Congress played a game of chicken over the federal budget. In the end, no payments were actually missed. (For readers unfamiliar with American slang, "chicken" is a game in which two male adolescents with more hormones that intelligence drive cars head-on at one another at high speed. The first one to turn aside is said to "chicken out"- to show cowardice. If neither turns aside, the results are much like the results of the U.S. government's failing to pay its debt.)

Nothing like a couple of economists relating US fiscal policy to an American - er "pastime" and then having to take more room explaining what that idiotic pastime is to all of their many non-American readers. But hey, they provided a temporary distraction from the drudgery that is the study of macroeconomics, so I will give them credit there.