Piotr Brzezinski

Frantic deal-making over the weekend appears to have clinched a $2.4 trillion US debt ceiling deal, with $900 billion in initial spending cuts and the rest to be determined by a committee over the autumn. The White House has the official statement here.  There’s still a chance the deal will fail in the House, but Republicans are sounding bullish. And Democrats will probably fall into line — not the least because the expiration of the Bush tax cuts over the next couple years could balance the current ‘all-cuts’ proposal.   Of course, negotiations could breakdown over the next 48 hours, but it’s now clear that, despite their rhetoric, US politicians ‘get it’ and fear the consequences of a default.

While British papers have, naturally, focused on the eurozone’s slow-motion implosion— and, of course, a Westminster media story—America has been flirting with economic Armageddon. After months of phony negotiations over the government debt ceiling, the deadline is less than two weeks away.   Without an agreement by August 2nd the US government will have to impose immediate, catastrophic spending cuts of about 44% to stave off default. It would simply be unable to meet certain obligations, whether to pensioners, public employees or state governments.   Terrifyingly, that might be what voters want — only half of Democrats and less than a third of Republicans and independents support raising the debt ceiling.

After a difficult few weeks for the Big Society, culminating in Liverpool’s nakedly political ‘withdrawal’ from the vanguard projects, Peter Oborne has already drafted an obituary for the Conservative's policy agenda.   As Oborne says, the Big Society goes to the heart of this government’s reason for existence, and its (real or perceived) failure would damage the Conservatives. But it's notable Labour has yet to come up with an alternative to the Big Society, or even a substantive critique of the idea. The problem for Miliband is that the Big Society agenda captures the centre ground of social policy – neither pro nor anti-state – and risks sidelining his party.

Last week’s Localism Bill introduced a range of novel measures, from elected mayors to local referendums. We’ve put together a list of Ten Things You Need To Know about it, by way of a primer for CoffeeHousers. The bill marks an important leap into the unknown. The dangers are less political – it’s hard for Labour to attack the principle of decentralisation – than practical, because it involves a genuine and significant loss of control for the centre. Pickles and company can’t predict what councils do with the new “general powers of competence,” nor what will happen if and when a new community-run service goes awry. But these challenges will only emerge in time.