If Congress cannot agree on a spending authorisation by midnight on Friday then an ominous-sounding US government shutdown will follow. Pensioners worried about receiving their cheques or baddies hoping to rob an unguarded Fort Knox à la Goldfinger should take note that only non-vital functions, such as national park rangers and passport applications, will be affected. The fact that this still encompasses around 1m employees speaks to the size of the federal government.

On face value the fuss is over $7bn in spending – enough dollar bills to reach the moon three times if laid end-to-end but quite trifling in the context of the federal budget, representing just 17 hours of spending. That is the difference between the $33bn in cuts proposed by the White House and $40bn of somewhat different cuts demanded by Republicans.

The larger context is anything but trifling. The spending authorisation to keep the government running until the current fiscal year ends in September is technically separate from the $14,300bn debt ceiling set to be breached no later than May 16 or the looming 2012 budget debate. All three are part of an ideological brawl about the size of government though.