I've surmised from years of reading the economic press that there's really only one bad thing that can happen in a capitalist economy: bondholders not getting paid. Heck, lots of commentators argue that war is good for the economy, a natural disaster is good for the economy, the broken window fallacy is a mainstay of Keynesian economics. However, bondholders not getting paid is something that should be prevented at all costs! The federal reserve is doing $40 billion a month of bond buying with electronically printed money (quantitative easing) so the bond holders get paid!
"I used to think if there was reincarnation, I wanted to come back as the president or the pope or a .400 baseball hitter. But now I want to come back as the bond market. You can intimidate everybody." - James Carville
"I used to think if there was reincarnation, I wanted to come back as the president or the pope or a .400 baseball hitter. But now I want to come back as the bond market. You can intimidate everybody." - James Carville