We Should All Fear the Words "Bond Buyers' Strike"

I've commented to friends and readers alike that I think our political system cannot handle our fiscal problems, that the solution will be imposed on us by the bond market. (I now update that thesis in light of Chris Christie in NJ and Jerry Brown in California. I've softened a little bit. I now believe that, in the typical case, where the political system can't fix itself, the bond market will do it for them.) Fortunately, this will play out in Europe first so that we might have a nice sneak peak and the opportunity to draw an object lesson. Witness Ireland. As bond buyers balk, the options start to narrow and the situation looks more intractable. This will be a virus (not in the sense that it is bad, but in the sense that it can spread quickly). If it is happening in Ireland now, it can happen in California starting now.