Quote:
They found “that the series of defaults resulted in a permanent increase in interest rates” of more than half a percent. That half a percent translated into billions of dollars in increased interest payments on the nation’s debt. “The impact is smaller at first because only new debt is affected,” they wrote according to the Post. “But over time, as the older debt matures and becomes refinanced at higher rates, the entire cost of the default is realized.”
The 1979 event is tiny compared to the size of payments the Treasury could have to forego if it can no longer borrow money Aug. 2. However, it does show what can happen if a payment is missed. “It creates doubt, and I think that’s the real lesson,” Zivney told the Post.
“The market has a much longer memory than individuals.”
So let the date pass without resolution, it will be interesting to see what repubs do when they have added to the debt, they are trying to pay. I mean anyone ever heard of paying a late fee when you are a few days late on a mortgage or a carpayment? Or an overdraft fee for a bounced check? That's exactly what happens when the debt ceiling is not raised. No excuse, or ideology will change that. Just ask any lender, or banker, what happens when you are late, and you go back to borrow a few bucks?