If the debt crisis roiling Washington were eventually to send the United States crashing into recession, its economy would hardly sink alone. The repercussions of a first-ever default on the federal debt would quickly reverberate around the world.
Even if the US debt default is in place for just one week, 1.5 million jobs across the country would be lost, according to an estimate by Moody s Analytics, which added that a prolonged default could cost 7.8 million American jobs.