United States: the weapon of the Constitution to avoid a catastrophic default

Washington correspondent

The threat of a US default, as unlikely as it seems, still hangs over Washington. The inability of Uncle Sam to repay his debts would cause a cataclysmic financial crisis, warned in recent days Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, while Jamie Dimon, the emblematic boss of the bank JPMorgan, indicated to rig his crisis center, just in case.

Uncle Sam's indebtedness is capped by law. Since December 2021, this ceiling has been set at $31.400 trillion. As the U.S. borrows more and more in the markets, it could reach this threshold in early June. If negotiations between the White House and Republican congressional leaders do not lead to an increase in the debt ceiling by then, other desperate solutions are possible.

A legal alternative

Joe Biden, before flying Tuesday night for the G7 meetings in Japan, was to meet again with the leaders...

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