Never underestimate the power of Washington to screw things up.
Lawmakers already cost the country its prized AAA credit rating this year, when partisan bickering and demagogy led to a refusal to raise the country's debt ceiling even though the money had already been committed.
Next year Washington will have at least two chances to do it again: Once in October when the fiscal year ends and lawmakers attempt to hammer out a new budget and once when the debt ceiling will likely need to be raised anew.
For some, the biggest risk to the economy is lawmakers making drastic spending cuts during the economic doldrums. The elimination of several government departments -- as has been suggested by several Republican lawmakers -- could put hundreds of thousands of people in the unemployment line just when the job market can least absorb them.
"I can easily see Tea Party folks coming back and demanding big deficit reductions, holding the government hostage and threatening shutdowns if they don't get it," said Stan Collender, a partner at the public affairs firm Qorvis.
President of European Central Bank says euro is "irreversible" even though he sees tougher time for banks in coming year, and ECB talks of rising contagion risk.
