The U.S. fiscal cliff debacle is being played up in the media as if the entire US economy will cease to exist come January 2, 2013. The big scary number of $1.2 trillion dollars of cuts, split fifty/fifty between the defense budget and so-called discretionary spending, grabs headlines; the terrifying notion that Americans may actually have to pay more taxes is deployed to raise anxieties still further. But is the threat real, or is this so much kabuki theatre? There is reason to suspect the latter.