China weighs in on debt debate; anyone can be a ‘Budget Hero’
China is weighing in on U.S. lawmakers’ failure to make any meaningful progress on the government debt limit, during increasingly tense budget talks in the White House. China holds more than $1 trillion in U.S. Treasury securities, and a failure to reach a debt agreement would result in a credit downgrade for the United States, and devalue China’s holdings. Louise Story, Wall Street and finance reporter for our partner the The New York Times, talks about the international implications of the U.S. defaulting on its debt.
And if the politicians can’t reach an agreement on how to raise the government debt limit, maybe you can. Budget Hero is an online game that’s getting more traffic than the 405 right now. The game allows users to play with the federal budget, and see how this changes the debt, national policies, and the country. Linda Fantin, director of network journalism and innovation at American Public Media, talks about the game created by Wilson Center for International Scholars’ David Rejeskik, and developed by APM.
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