FILE - This Nov. 16, 2012 file photo shows President Barack Obama shaking hands with House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio in the Roosevelt Room of the White House in Washington, during a meeting to discuss the deficit and economy. Congress and the White House can significantly soften the initial impact of the “fiscal cliff” even if they fail to reach a compromise by Dec. 31. One thing they cannot control, however, is the financial markets' reaction, which possibly could be a panicky sell-off that triggers economic reversals worldwide. The stock market's unpredictability is perhaps the biggest wild card in the political showdown over the fiscal cliff. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster, File)
Stock market is a wild card in fiscal cliff talks
FILE - This Nov. 16, 2012 file photo shows President Barack Obama shaking hands with House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio in the Roosevelt Room of the White House in Washington, during a meeting to discuss the deficit and economy. Congress and the White House can significantly soften the initial impact of the “fiscal cliff” even if they fail to reach a compromise by Dec. 31. One thing they cannot control, however, is the financial markets' reaction, which possibly could be a panicky sell-off that triggers economic reversals worldwide. The stock market's unpredictability is perhaps the biggest wild card in the political showdown over the fiscal cliff. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster, File)
By CHARLES BABINGTON
Associated Press /
December 10, 2012
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Welch said a similar market meltdown next month, in the event of a fiscal cliff impasse, ‘‘is what will force members of Congress eventually to act.’’
Few lawmakers in either party are eager to predict how the stocks and bonds markets would react to a failure to reach a fiscal cliff accord by year’s end.
‘‘Let’s not pretend the markets fully understand the politicians, or the politicians fully understand the markets,’’ said Rep. George Miller, D-Calif., who has served in Congress for 37 years.
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