Congress passed a budget and reached a debt ceiling agreement, surprising host Kai Ryssdal. Who had at least one beer riding on the question.

In today’s end-of-the-week conversation with Nela Richardson of Bloomberg Government and Cardiff Garcia of Financial Times, the three reflected on:

The debt-ceiling deal:

“Amazingly enough, the politically smart thing to do also happened to be the right thing to do…I always breathe a sigh of relief when this happens.” — Cardiff Garcia

Janet Yellen’s first days:

“I thought stylisitcally, she was great. More confident than Bernanke was when he started his term.” — Cardiff Garcia

What’s ahead for Yellen + more bets:

“I think she has a few surprises in store for us” — Nela Richardson

“Wanna bet?” — Kai Ryssdal

Seasonal adjustments:

“We’ve had winters for as long as I can remember.” — Nela Richardson