[ti:What Is the US Debt Limit?] [by:www.51voa.com] [00:00.00]更多听力请访问51VOA.COM [00:02.36]American President Joe Biden again asked Congress [00:06.64]to lift the United States debt limit [00:09.52]after a meeting Wednesday with the nation’s business leaders. [00:14.40]The White House Council of Economic Advisors [00:17.76]warned before the meeting that the United States government [00:22.16]will default on its obligations [00:24.84]if Congress does not raise the debt limit by October 18. [00:30.60]A default is a failure to meet the legal obligations of a loan. [00:36.08]The council said millions of Americans [00:38.96]might not receive their payments [00:41.36]from Social Security and government healthcare. [00:45.40]A default could also affect national defense and pandemic services. [00:52.20]Since many countries depend on the U.S. monetary policy, [00:56.28]it said a default “would likely cause credit markets worldwide [01:01.52]to freeze up and stock markets to plunge. [01:07.08]Employers around the world [01:09.04]would likely have to begin laying off workers.” [01:13.20]Like some of us, governments sometimes [01:16.16]spend more money than they receive from taxes. [01:20.72]So, they have to borrow money by issuing bonds, [01:25.28]or debts, to be repaid later. [01:29.84]In the U.S., Congress has the power to set a debt limit. [01:35.28]It is “the maximum amount of debt [01:38.04]that the Department of the Treasury can issue to the public [01:41.88]or to other federal agencies.” [01:45.76]Since 1960, Congress has changed the debt limit 78 times [01:51.64]under both Republican and Democratic administrations [01:55.88]to pay for government operations. [01:59.52]Raising the debt limit does not mean [02:02.00]that Treasury has more money to spend. [02:05.48]It only permits the U.S. government [02:08.08]to “finance existing legal obligations.” [02:12.80]When the limit is reached, [02:14.80]the Treasury cannot issue more debt or borrow more money. [02:20.00]In August 2019, the U.S. Congress passed a budget deal, [02:25.28]with support from both Republican and Democratic lawmakers, [02:30.20]that raised spending and suspended the debt limit for two years. [02:36.16]Under the agreement, the money borrowed [02:38.64]during the suspension of the debt limit [02:41.16]will be added to the previous limit of $22 trillion. [02:46.80]An additional $6.5 trillion had been borrowed [02:51.60]since the 2019 tax cuts and pandemic spending, [02:56.60]raising the nation’s debt limit to $28.5 trillion. [03:03.12]The Congressional Budget Office estimated [03:06.48]that the federal government [03:08.00]has a deficit of $2.7 trillion for the budget year [03:12.88]ending in September 2021. [03:16.68]The government also ran up deficits each year from 2016 to 2020. [03:23.24]Technically, the U.S. has already reached its debt limit [03:26.76]at the end of July as agreed to in the 2019 budget deal. [03:32.80]Once the debt limit is reached, [03:34.88]the U.S. cannot borrow more money to pay its bills. [03:39.12]But Treasury could and has used “extraordinary measures” [03:43.92]like delaying some payments to employees’ retirement funds [03:47.64]to avoid a default. [03:50.64]Unless Congress acts to raise the debt limit, [03:54.08]the Bipartisan Policy Center [03:56.60]projects that the U.S. will most likely reach the limit [04:00.28]between October 15 and November 4. [04:05.04]The center added that a default would likely raise borrowing costs [04:09.92]as investors will demand a higher rate of return on U.S. debts. [04:15.80]Even a short-term default, it said, [04:18.56]could also threaten the country’s current economic recovery. [04:23.48]Before World War I, the U.S. Congress [04:26.72]permitted borrowing only for special reasons, [04:29.72]such as the building of the Panama Canal. [04:33.48]In 1917, Congress passed a law that set a debt limit. [04:38.48]It gave Treasury some flexibility [04:41.12]in dealing with the national debt to pay for the war. [04:45.80]The U.S. is one of few countries around the world with a debt limit. [04:51.20]Denmark is often noted as another developed country with a debt limit. [04:56.96]But Denmark often sets its borrowing limit so high [05:00.48]that a default is not really possible. [05:04.60]For many years in the U.S., raising the debt limit was not an issue. [05:10.88]The Republican Party has since only supported increase [05:15.36]while it has controlled the White House. [05:19.24]It has argued against raising the limit [05:22.00]under Democratic administrations. [05:25.72]Earlier this year, Democratic Congressman Bill Foster of Illinois [05:30.60]introduced a bill to end the debt limit. [05:34.44]The bill, however, is not guaranteed [05:36.92]to pass with the currently divided legislature. [05:40.88]Late on Wednesday, Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell [05:44.88]told Democrats he would permit an emergency debt limit extension [05:50.36]into December to avoid a default. [05:54.12]If the offer is accepted, the U.S. will have [05:57.72]to deal with the debt limit again by the end of the year. [06:02.12]I'm Jill Robbins. 更多听力请访问51VOA.COM