One upside of avoiding financial armageddon is that when financial armageddon does come (it always does eventually), it won't be blamed on something stupid like tariffs and there might be an actual conversation about the financial underpinnings of the country.

The other upside is that the ATMs are still working.

I take it back. I think this will end up being the narrative regardless of what happens. In addition to the immense political incentives, people simply love proximate causes, burying heads in sand, kicking cans down roads, etc. Unfortunate.

It's true, narratives have a way of sticking no matter the outcome. Sometimes, it's easier to go with the flow than to face complex realities.