US Debt Ceiling saga

IMF chief asks US to raise Borrowing Limit – HuffPost
The IMF’s new chief foresees “real nasty consequences” for the US and global economies if the US fails to raise its borrowing limit.
Christine Lagarde said in an interview broadcast Sunday that it would cause interest rates to rise and stock markets to fall. That would threaten an important IMF goal, which is preserving stability in the world economy.

US Default would be catastrophic but it won’t happen, Geithner says – FoxNews
Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said Sunday that a failure to raise the debt ceiling by Aug 2 would be “catastrophic” to the economy, though he and other top officials expressed confidence that lawmakers would ultimately vote to lift the $14.3 trillion cap in time.
He said interest rates could rise the closer the country gets to Aug 2 without a deal and that if the debt ceiling is not raised by then, credit rating agencies could follow through on threats to downgrade the US’ sterling credit rating.
“If that happens, you’re going to see catastrophic damage across the American economy and across the global economy,” Geithner said.
He said Congress has no choice but to act.