In addition to warnings for the United States, fears have been raised about the effect on the global economy should Congress fail to raise the U.S. debt ceiling. Speaking in New York, the new head of the International Monetary Fund, Christine Lagarde, warned of negative repercussions worldwide.

Christine Lagarde: “Frankly, to have a default or to have a significant downgrading of the United States signature would be a very, very, very serious event, not for the United States alone, but for the global economy at large, because the consequences would be far-reaching. It would not stop at the frontiers of the United States. It would go beyond.”