Well here's an amazingly horrific statistic:
According to a poll by the Pew Research Center this week, 54 percent of those who identify themselves as Republicans believe the United States government can "go past the deadline for raising the debt limit without major economic problems."
Aside from the pure partisan pique this poll represents, this majority GOP opinion is a worrying sign that the toxicity of America's political system is wrecking its economic standing in the world.
Make no mistake: A default of the world's largest economy would create plenty of economic damage in the US economy, on Wall Street and global financial markets, and could reverberate in almost every corner of the planet.
And, yes, the world is paying attention to the ongoing farce in Washington, DC.
Reuters columnist Alan Wheatley sums it up thusly: "The world is watching Washington's showdown over the federal budget and debt ceiling with the same feelings of horror, disbelief and ghoulish fascination that a slow-motion car crash produces."
The Economist, too, minced no words: "No way to run a country," the newspaper's latest headline blared over a photo of a very perturbed George Washington.
So why is America's "domestic political dispute" a big deal for the global economy?
Let's start with the US Treasury market, which represents the belief by global investors that the United States is able - and willing - to pay its debts.
This is no arcane economic exercise.
The ability of the US economy to attract trillions from around the world has benefitted every American by keeping our interest rates low, and of course, by allowing the US government to do things like pay retirees and fund our military. It means - in economic parlance - that the US dollar acts as the world's reserve currency.
Both Japan and China - the two biggest holders of US debt - are now publicly scolding America's elected representatives for playing yet another cat-and-mouse game with the global economy.
"The US must avoid a situation where it cannot pay (for its debt) and its triple-A ranking plunges all of a sudden," Japan's Finance Minister Taro Aso warned. "The US must be fully aware that if that happens the US would fall into fiscal crisis," he casually added.
