Geithner Predicts Double-Dip if Congress Fails to Lift Debt Ceiling
By Stacy Kaper
NationalJournal.com
Updated: May 14, 2011 | 3:38 p.m.
May 14, 2011 | 1:57 p.m.
Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner said if Congress fails to lift the debt ceiling and the U.S. defaults on its obligations “this abrupt contraction would likely push us into a double dip recession,” painting the most explicitly dire prediction to date of the consequences of inaction.
In a heavily-anticipated response to Sen. Michael Bennet, D-Colo., who asked Geithner to document the economic and fiscal impacts of failing to lift the statutory debt limit, the Treasury secretary detailed a chain reaction that would cripple the economy, costing jobs and income.
“A default would inflict catastrophic far-reaching damage on our nation’s economy, significantly reducing growth and increasing unemployment,” said Geithner in the letter to Bennet which was dated May 13. “Even a short-term default could cause irrevocable damage to the economy."
Full story: http://nationaljournal.com/economy/geithner-predicts-double-dip-if-congress-fails-to-lift-debt-ceiling-20110514
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