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Explaining the long history of US debt (& which other countries are saddled with debt) | GZERO World

Explaining the long history of US debt (& which other countries are saddled with debt)

Sovereign debt is, simply put, the money a country owes to its creditors around the world. Ian Bremmer explains a few more fun facts about debt on GZERO World.

Good old Ben Franklin once quipped, “Rather go to bed without dinner than to rise in debt.” Well, America didn’t exactly heed that advice, because never in its history did the US hit the hay hungry. In fact, the nation ended the Revolutionary War years about $75 million in debt.

US debt hit the billions by the time the Civil War was over, and was at $22 billion after World War One.

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The Fundraising Prowess of "Wokeism" | GZERO World

The fundraising prowess of "wokeism"

In a development that will surprise exactly no one, there’s more than a little kicking and screaming going on these days in Washington over the debt ceiling debate. Utah Senator Mitt Romney, a throwback from another era of US politics, has a message for the rabble-rousers on both sides: pipe down.

That means stop playing brinkmanship with a US debt default, Romney tells Ian Bremmer in the latest episode of GZERO World.

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Ian Explains: Debt Ceiling | GZERO World

Ian Explains: The debt ceiling

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen announced that her department had begun using extraordinary cash management measures to prevent a credit default until June 5th, but the clock is ticking. If Congress fails to increase the debt ceiling by the time the Treasury runs out of cash, then the US government could default on its loans for the first time in history, Ian Bremmer explains. Not only would this shake investor confidence in US bonds, raising the prospect of an American recession, but because US debt is the cornerstone of the world economy, it could also spark a global financial calamity.

So, what’s the holdup? Politics, of course. Republican House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, who handed the hard-right delegation of his party everything short of a kidney to secure his leadership role, is signaling that the only way Republicans will agree to increase the debt ceiling is if President Biden works with them on spending cuts in the federal budget—a budget that has grown nearly 30% over the last three years.

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Who Will Cave On Raising US Debt Ceiling (Again?) | GZERO World

Who will cave on raising US debt ceiling (again?)

In a development that will surprise exactly no one, there’s more than a little kicking and screaming going on these days in Washington over the debt ceiling debate. On GZERO World, Utah Senator Mitt Romney, a throwback from another era of US politics, has a message for the rabble-rousers on both sides: pipe down.

That means stop playing brinkmanship with a US debt default, Romney tells Ian Bremmer in the latest episode of GZERO World.

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Sen. Mitt Romney on DC Dysfunction, Russian Attacks & Banning TikTok | GZERO World with Ian Bremmer

Sen. Mitt Romney on DC dysfunction, Russian attacks, and banning TikTok

There's a lot of kicking and screaming going on these days in Washington. Utah Senator Mitt Romney, a throwback from another era of US politics, has a message for the rabble-rousers on both sides: pipe down.

That means stop thinking it's okay to risk a US default, race-bait to win the Republican presidential primary, abandon Ukraine, or poke China over Taiwan.

On GZERO World, the former Republican presidential candidate sits down for an exclusive interview with Ian Bremmer to talk debt ceiling drama, Ukraine war fatigue, and pondering war with China. He also has thoughts on the "woke-ism" debate and whether the US should ban TikTok.

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Podcast: Mitt Romney on uncharted US waters, Russian malevolence, & China’s economic ambition


Listen: Utah Senator Mitt Romney speaks with Ian Bremmer about the biggest foreign policy challenges facing the US, as well as the latest in the Congressional debt ceiling drama. On the GZERO World podcast, Romney (who was mocked by Barack Obama in a 2012 presidential debate for saying that Russia was America’s top geopolitical threat) shares his views about the risk that Russia poses today and how to handle Ukraine's wish to join NATO.

Romney voices his concern that the US should not provoke China, and doesn't think that the current or former Speaker of the House should be visiting Taiwan. He also weighs in on the "woke-ism" debate and explains why he thinks the US should ban TikTok.

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US Cannot Issue New Debt Until Congress Acts To Raise Debt Limit | GZERO Media

GOP partisanship could trigger first-ever US default

Jon Lieber, head of Eurasia Group's coverage of political and policy developments in Washington, DC shares his perspective on US politics:

What does it mean that the US has hit its borrowing limit?

Well, the US this week hit its statutorily created debt limit, meaning that because of all the money that it borrowed during the course of the pandemic and the fact that it's borrowing hundreds of billions of dollars a year spending more than it takes in tax revenues, it hit its $31.5 trillion debt limit, which means that the US is now in a situation that it cannot issue new debt until Congress acts to raise the debt limit. However, Congress does not want to raise the debt limit, and there are a couple episodes during 2011 and 2013 where Congress came very, very close to the date where it would've potentially defaulted for the first time ever by not making payments to creditors.

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Paige Fusco, with image by DonkeyHotey

US debt hits record: Should you worry?

Earlier this week, US gross national debt hit a new high, clocking $31 trillion. Gasp! That’s almost twice what it was a decade ago, and debt is now equal to well over 100% of GDP, hovering at the highest levels since World War II.

Is steadily rising US debt a problem, or is the risk of a financial meltdown overblown? Here’s a quick guide to the debate over debt.

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