As this is being written, it's the last day before the “fiscal cliff.” While it doesn't quite have the ominous ring of the Mayan end of the world prediction - the metaphor of a cliff has been an effective media attention grabber. To be sure, there are some real consequences down the cankicking road such as spending cuts, significant tax increases and immediate unemployment benefits expiring for a couple of million people. On the other side of the ledger is a national debt exceeding $16 trillion that has been increasing at a rate of nearly four billion a day over the last five years. Sixteen trillion in a giant sheet of hundred dollars bills could be folded into an origami swan the size of the former planet Pluto.
Deadlines create drama, because at least in theory, there is no extension or reversal. Y2K was much anticipated largely in part because of its fixed point in time. Oh boy, a countdown to the end – I can't wait. For instance, I could tell you a meteorite will slam into the earth where your house is located at some undisclosed time in the future and get a big yawn. However, if I said it will happen next Tuesday at noon, now, that would get your attention and the proper ensuing sarcasm and ridicule when the deadline passed.