With the New Year fast approaching, there is no sign of an agreement in Washington that would keep us from falling off the so-called “fiscal cliff” – a combination of automatic tax hikes and budget cuts that threaten to plunge us into the depths of another recession. But one Atlanta expert says, perhaps we have already taken that first big step.

“We’re already over the cliff,” said Frank Fenello at UHY Advisors. He believes with all the hype and hoopla surrounding the so-called fiscal cliff, financial markets have already taken the plunge.

“Businesses are already reacting,” he explained.

Fenello pointed to the Dow Jones Industrials Average. It was over 13,000 just a few weeks ago. Now, it is almost a hundred points lower.

Business leaders are intently watching legislative leaders, looking for a sign that those draconian tax hikes and budget cuts set to take place January 2nd will be averted in a last-minute deal. Fenello says so far, he hasn’t seen that sign.

“People aren’t necessarily afraid of change,” he argued, “they’re afraid of uncertainty.” That uncertainty is what Fenello defined as the real fiscal cliff and right now, he believes we are already in free-fall.