Tax Cutters Set Up Tomorrow’s Fiscal Crisis: Simon Johnson

President Barack Obama is receiving congratulations for moving to the center on the tax agreement with Republicans last week.

Both sides think they got something: Democrats feel this will nudge unemployment below 8.5 percent in 2012, helping the president get reelected; Republicans achieved longstanding goals on measures such as the estate tax and think they will get most of the credit for an economic recovery that’s already under way.