WASHINGTON — The Obama administration issued a report Thursday warning of a “catastrophic” economic crash if Republicans fight over raising the debt limit.
The report sounded the alarm that a meltdown possibly worse than the Great Recession of 2008 looms if lawmakers don’t raise the debt ceiling by an Oct. 17 deadline, triggering a credit default.
“A default would be unprecedented and has the potential to be catastrophic: credit markets could freeze, the value of the dollar could plummet, US interest rates could skyrocket,” the Treasury Department said in the chilling report.
“The negative spillovers could reverberate around the world” and “echo the events of 2008 or worse.”
The predictions came amid the first government shutdown in 17 years, which threatens to lead to a feud over raising the government’s $16.7 trillion debt limit.