The Blubber

Per CNN

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy has provided an update regarding the debt limit issue. McCarthy clarified that although an agreement hasn't been met, he felt that the "discussion was productive."

This update comes as the US is closing in on March 1, the potential default date. Should the debt limit not be suspended or raised, this would be the first time the country defaults on its debt.

McCarthy: “I felt we had a productive discussion – we don’t have an agreement yet, but I did feel the discussion was productive in areas that we have differences of opinion... We’re going to have the staffs continue to get back together and work based on some of the things that we had talked about.”

McCarthy also noted Republicans weren't willing to consider increasing taxes to increase revenue. Another thing that they didn't want to support was defense spending cuts, saying they weren't negotiable.

The House Speaker also said taht the problem wasn't how much money was coming in but how much money was coming out.

McCarthy: “No... The problem is not revenue, the problem is spending... We need to cut spending, but … I think we should be looking at tax loopholes and making sure the wealthy pay their fair share. I think revenue matters.”

The Congressional Budget Office and the US Department of the Treasury provided new analysis that suggested that the US was rapidly approaching the X-date, also known as the date when the government won't be able to pay its bills.

It was noted that this could lead to an economic downturn as bad as the Great Recession, where the stock market fell 45% and 8 million Americans lost their jobs.

Recently, Goldman Sachs estimated that the US could default on its debt on June 8 or 9.

See flow at unusualwhales.com/flow.

Other News:

• A default could lead to an economic downturn as bad as the Great Recession, with 8 million Americans losing their jobs and the stock market’s value falling by about 45%
• Goldman Sachs: US could default on its debt on June 8 or 9

Resources:

CNN