The United States tries to avoid defaulting on its debt. Can it avoid an economic crisis?  

The U.S. is now just weeks away from what the treasury secretary warns could be an “economic catastrophe” if it fails to agree on a deal to raise its debt ceiling. That’s required so that the country can continue to borrow and doesn’t run out of money.  

President Biden met with congressional leaders at the White House this week, but there was little progress. The U.S. is now facing the prospect of major economic fallout as soon as the beginning of June.  

Joining the discussion:

• Eleanor Clift is a political columnist with the Daily Beast.
• John Quelch is a professor at the University of Miami’s Herbert Business School. 
• Yan Liang is the Endowed Chair of Economics at Willamette University.
• Ryan Patel is a global business executive and Senior Fellow with the Drucker School of Management at Claremont Graduate University.

President Biden and Republicans continued to stare each other down over the debt ceiling with just weeks to go until the U.S. potentially defaults on paying its bills https://t.co/HwxGaMkRB3

— The Wall Street Journal (@WSJ) May 10, 2023

US President Joe Biden piled pressure on Republican lawmakers to move quickly to raise the country's $31.4 trillion debt ceiling or risk throwing the economy into a recession that would kill thousands of jobs https://t.co/KDtDcqGy5l pic.twitter.com/jqfLNv3wF5

— Reuters (@Reuters) May 10, 2023