Um, why is Wall Street so spooky calm?

Unless something changes fast, the U.S. defaults on its credit Tuesday. So why isn't the stock market in free fall? With Congress endlessly dithering over the debt ceiling, you'd think Wall Street would be freaking out. You know, as in eating their Glocks or jumping out of skyscraper windows and stuff, Great Depression-style. (Think Mortimer Duke yelling "Sell! Sell! Sell!" in Trading Places.) But not to worry. The Atlantic's Megan McArdle says the stock titans are "relatively calm because they simply cannot bring themselves to believe that we're not, in the end, going to raise the ceiling. It's too outlandish that we would, through the collective action of our congressmen, suddenly and for no apparent reason shoot ourselves in the head." I sure hope she's right. But Jon Chait begs to differ. "The basic problem here is that Wall Street has massively underestimated the loony determination of the Republican right," he writes. "McArdle's description reminded me of Ellis, the financial hot shot in Die Hard who thinks he can deal with the terrorists the way he deals with corporate takeovers in his regular work." Ellis, of course, gets blown away by Hans Gruber, the head terrorist. (Watch the clip here. It's a classic scene.) Let's hope the Republicans decline their all too tempting star turn as Gruber.