Democracy Dies in Darkness
Economic Policy

U.S. default this fall would cost 6 million jobs, wipe out $15 trillion in wealth, study says

GOP signals refusal to help Democrats raise debt ceiling, in opposition to President Biden’s spending plans

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September 21, 2021 at 2:00 p.m. EDT
If Congress fails to increase the debt limit, the Treasury Department would be unable to pay debts as they come due. (Samuel Corum/AFP/Getty Images)
4 min

The United States could plunge into an immediate recession if Congress fails to raise the debt ceiling and the country defaults on its payment obligations this fall, according to one analysis released Tuesday.

Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody’s Analytics, found that a prolonged impasse over the debt ceiling would cost the U.S. economy up to 6 million jobs, wipe out as much as $15 trillion in household wealth, and send the unemployment rate surging to roughly 9 percent from around 5 percent.