US averts fiscal cliff - reaction - Telegraph Republicans vow not to raise the limit without sharp cuts in spending and Obama vows not to cut spending without further tax hikes. Two more months of shenanigans and waffling/seasick markets? It certainly looks that way. Ben Schwartz, chief market strategist for Lightspeed Financial Regardless of a deal getting done, people on Wall Street are not going to run around giving high fives. The federal government is obviously dysfunctional, to say the least. Joseph LaVorgna, an economist at Deutsche Bank Nothing really has been fixed. There are much bigger philosophical issues that we aren't even addressing yet. Paul Reilly at Clear Currency Last night's late agreement of sorts is the least that was needed to reassure markets. While the vote averted immediate pain like tax hikes for almost all U.S. households, it did nothing to resolve other political showdowns on the budget that loom in coming months. Congress must now act as early as mid-February to prevent a default and the dispute may reprise a similar 2011 episode that led to a downgrade of the U.S. credit rating. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky It might have appeared to some as though their government wasn't working but ... the opposite was true. Republican Representative David Dreier of California We are ensuring that taxes aren't increased on 99pc of our fellow Americans. Democrat Representative Louise Slaughter It sets the nation up for another fiscal showdown in mere months. This toxic combination of extremism and hyper-partisanship has resulted in the 112th Congress being the least productive in history. Ryan Sweet, a senior economist at Moody's Analytics Underneath the fiscal drama is an improving economy. The fiscal drag will take some wind out of it but once there is more clarity, we can expect stronger growth.