"Is America A Bubble?" by Ezra Klein

"The markets' faith in the U.S. is long-standing and not easily dislodged. The dollar has been the world's reserve currency for decades, with the foreigners who hoard our cash providing essentially interest-free loans to the U.S. Treasury. The global appetite for Treasury bills produces similar gains, with purchasers -- including foreign governments buying in bulk -- lending the U.S. government money at minimal, even effectively negative, rates. The result is a huge economic advantage for the United States. All this comes from a deep confidence that the U.S. political system will make sound decisions -- a confidence, at this point, that few of the system's participants share and one that's hard to square with the evidence of the past few years. The simple fact is that Congress is getting worse at avoiding the traps it sets for itself." Ezra Klein in Bloomberg