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Biden & McCarthy both win in debt ceiling showdown
Biden & McCarthy both win in debt ceiling showdown | US Politics In :60 | GZERO Media

Biden & McCarthy both win in debt ceiling showdown

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

Who won the debt ceiling showdown between President Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy?

And the answer is everyone's a winner. President Biden, first and foremost, avoided a default, which would have been a terrible consequence for Biden politically and the US and world economy. Very happy that didn't happen. Biden can now spin the modest spending reductions in the bill that increased the debt ceiling as a bipartisan victory, which should potentially help in his reelection campaign as he tries to campaign as a quasi-moderate, which is what brought him to office in 2020 and he put the debt ceiling issue behind us for another two years until at least January of 2025, which is going to be after the next presidential election. And the US is likely to revisit a lot of these fiscal issues once again, using the debt ceiling as a point of leverage to achieve further spending cuts and potentially an extension of the Trump tax cuts that expire in 2026.

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The U.S. House Committee on Rules holds a hearing about the United States' debt ceiling.

Reuters

House passes debt limit bill

The US House of Representatives on Wednesday night passed a bipartisan debt limit bill to avoid a government default. And after all the drama, it wasn’t even that close: 314 lawmakers voted in favor of the bill, while 117 opposed it. Interestingly, more Dems (165) backed the measure negotiated by House Speaker Kevin McCarthy with the White House than Republicans (149).

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Ukraine drone attacks on Moscow imply they don't fear Russian response
Ukraine drone attacks on Moscow imply they don't fear Russian response | World In :60 | GZERO Media

Ukraine drone attacks on Moscow imply they don't fear Russian response

Will recent Moscow targeted drone attacks lead Putin to escalate the war in Ukraine? Biden and McCarthy reached a deal. Is the US debt problem solved? After Erdogan's election, will it be more of the same for Turkey & its struggling economy? Ian Bremmer shares his insights on global politics this week on World In :60.

Will recent Moscow targeted drone attacks lead Putin to escalate the war in Ukraine?

Well, so far, Putin has been claiming that these are terrorist attacks like he did the recent raids in Belgorod region, also in Russia. Certainly, it's interesting to note that Ukrainians taking these actions imply that they don't believe that Putin can or will do much in escalation. Also, keeping in mind this seems to be indiscriminate targeting of residential areas. No Russians have been killed that we know of, so far. But this is tit for tat, the kind of behavior we've seen from the Russians, of course, committing war crimes all over Ukraine. Really hate to see the Ukrainians engaging in that kind of behavior. Should be condemned, frankly. Not what the Americans or what most NATO allies want to see. And also shows the limitations of how much influence NATO has over Ukrainian military decision making.

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U.S. House Speaker McCarthy talks to reporters at the U.S. Capitol in Washington.

Reuters

Debt ceiling deal comes down to the wire

There was much relief after President Joe Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy announced on Saturday night that they’d agreed to raise the debt ceiling and avoid a default in the world’s largest economy by June 5, the date Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen says the US will run out of money to pay back its debts. But it’s clear that the ongoing crisis will come down to the wire. (For more on what’s in the proposed bill, see here.)

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Paige Fusco

The Graphic Truth: Who blew up the US national debt?

On Saturday night, just days before the US government was set to run out of money, US President Joe Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy reached an agreement to raise the debt ceiling. The deal is, as expected, a modest compromise that includes more spending cuts than Democrats were initially willing to make, but less than Republicans wanted.

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World Bank's David Malpass on global debt & economic inequality
World Bank's David Malpass on global debt & economic inequality | GZERO World with Ian Bremmer

World Bank's David Malpass on global debt & economic inequality

The world has a huge debt problem. Economic growth is slowing, but global debt is skyrocketing.

David Malpass sits down with Ian Bremmer on GZERO World for his final interview as president of the World Bank Group to discuss the debt crisis, his tenure at the World Bank, and solutions for combatting growing economic inequality.

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Podcast: Fix the global debt crisis before it's too late, warns World Bank's David Malpass

Transcript

Listen: In his final interview as World Bank president, David Malpass sits down with Ian Bremmer on the GZERO World podcast to discuss all things debt. No, not your credit card or mortgage payments, but the sovereign debt that governments use to pay their bills.

Global debt has ballooned to an eye-watering $300 trillion due to decades of low interest that made borrowing money extremely cheap, followed by runaway inflation driven by the pandemic and war in Ukraine. This dynamic has forced a lot of nations––particularly the poorest––to borrow more money than it can pay back.

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US debt default would be "destabilizing," says World Bank's David Malpass
US debt default would be "destabilizing," says World Bank's David Malpass | GZERO World

US debt default would be "destabilizing," says World Bank's David Malpass

The debate in the US Congress around the debt limit and a potential default is like spending money on a credit card but refusing to pay the bill, according to David Malpass, outgoing president of The World Bank Group.

On GZERO World with Ian Bremmer, Malpass discussed the ongoing negotiations in Washington to avert a default and raise the debt ceiling before the federal government runs out of money on June 1. If the two sides can’t come to an agreement, Malpass says, the economic consequences will be “destabilizing.”

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