If the global economy could vote, would it have voted for the messy budget compromise that US politicians cobbled together in the first hours of 2013?

The answer is it probably would. But like the authors of the deal, it may well live to regret it.

The world's financial markets are in favour, if early moves in Asian and European share prices are anything to go by.

But some will say that only goes to show how short-sighted those markets really are.

Think about it. There were three things about America that were troubling investors a week ago: the dysfunctional relationship between its two most important branches of government; the uncertainty over its short and long-term budget policies; and finally, the fear that the combination of these two things might accidentally tip the economy into a recession.