Debt Ceiling Drama! Will America Default or Will Our Leaders Cut A Deal? Should Biden Mint A One Trillion Dollar Coin? Will People Start Investing in Another Currency? Oil? Copper? Cobalt? Or Bitcoin?

<p>The Best Paragraph I&#39;ve Read:</p> <p><br></p> <p><br></p> <p> </p> <p>As many economists, including Sarah House of <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/quote/WFC:US" target="_blank">Wells Fargo</a>, have argued, “you don’t even need to actually default on the debt for there to be real damage in the economy.” At Bloomberg Economics, a team led by Chief US Economist Anna Wong modeled a scenario where a protracted standoff leads to elevated market stress, and Treasury is forced to cut social spending to prioritize funds to repay the debt. They estimate, conservatively, that gross domestic product could contract at an annualized rate of 8% in the second half as a result.</p> <p>Through wars, recessions and the pandemic, Americans have benefited from the US Treasury bond being the closest thing there is to a risk-free asset, allowing the federal government to fund itself often at lower costs than its peers. Demand for those securities supports a <a href="https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/MVMTD027MNFRBDAL" target="_blank" rel="noopener">$24 trillion</a> market that is the world’s deepest and most liquid. US Treasury bonds also anchor a world-spanning network of financial transactions.</p> <p>Even if a last-minute deal averts a default, America’s reputation as a country that honors its debts could take a hit, with the effects lingering for months or even years.</p> <p> This paragraph comes from Bloomberg in an article titled: &quot;The True Cost of an Extended US Debt Ceiling Standoff.&quot; The article is written by Saleha Mohsin and Enda Curran. You can read the full article here:</p> <p><br></p> <p><br></p> <p><a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-05-18/debt-ceiling-standoffs-threaten-an-already-wobbly-dollar" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferer">https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-05-18/debt-ceiling-standoffs-threaten-an-already-wobbly-dollar</a></p> <p><br></p> <p><br></p> <p>Zac and Don discuss the current debt ceiling drama. They wonder if the president and congress will make a