"Fiscal cliff" threatens not only U.S. but world economy

BEIJING, Nov. 17 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Barack Obama and Congress leaders met Friday to discuss how to dodge the so-called "fiscal cliff" in the first round of tense and time-consuming negotiations before a Dec. 31 deadline.

However, the two sides did not make much headway in bridging their differences over spending cuts and tax hikes. It seems that neither party is willing to courageously compromise with the other before hitting the deadline.

Washington has a notorious tradition of political brinkmanship and does not compromise until the last minute as the two parties try to secure maximum gains from the process of bargaining.

In order to pare the current enormous federal deficit of 1.1 trillion U.S. dollars, the Democrats favor raising taxes for the wealthy, while the Republicans, with a majority in the House of Representatives, are opposed to such a measure.

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