The US Is About To Hit Its Debt Ceiling, and Markets Couldn’t Care Less

Dave Ramsey would be incredibly disappointed with the United States’ financial debt balance — which sits at $31.4T.

The US is about to run out of money — and a US debt default would jeopardize tens of billions of dollars in Social Security benefits, federal salaries and Medicaid payments.

• Goldman estimated that hitting the ceiling could stop one-tenth of all US economic activity.
• It would also cost 3M jobs and add $130K to the average 30-year mortgage — while diverting federal investments away from critical areas.

The “X-Date” — when the government officially fails to pay its bills — is estimated between June and August. But Treasury Secretary warned the US could run out of money by June 1.

Business as usual for markets

The S&P 500 is carrying on like the US isn’t about to be bankrupt. And that’s because most of the market doesn’t believe it’ll happen.

• According to the US Treasury Department, Congress has raised the debt limit 78 times since 1960.
• Well-known fund manager Bill Gross called the stalemate “ridiculous” and said, “It is always resolved.”

If the US keeps hitting the debt ceiling just to have it raised, why do we even have one? Several politicians have proposed eliminating the debt ceiling. And this week, a union representing US federal employees filed a lawsuit to strike it down.

But the former director of the Congressional Budget Office says the debt ceiling has become a political bargaining chip used to extract political demands.