Debt Limit Default Explainer
FILE – Cut stacks of $100 bills make their way down the line at the Bureau of Engraving and Printing Western Currency Facility in Fort Worth, Texas, Sept. 24, 2013. All the hand-wringing over a potential government default if Congress doesn’t increase the national debt limit has conjured up images of past government shutdowns. In fact, there’s a big difference between a government default and a government shutdown. A default would occur if the government exceeds its legal borrowing limit and can no longer pay all its creditors or pay for existing programs. (AP Photo/LM Otero, File)