The contentious debate over the debt ceiling became one of this summer’s hottest news stories. We asked Dan Kennedy, assistant professor of journalism at Northeastern University, to assess the overall coverage as well as the challenges journalists face when reporting any politically charged story.
Last week, the stock market suffered its worst stretch since 2008, while Standard & Poor’s downgraded the government’s credit rating for the first time in history. We asked finance expert Jeffrey Born, a professor in the College of Business Administration, to weigh in on the S&P downgrade, the impact of fiscal turmoil in Europe on the American economy and the risk of a double-dip recession — all factors weighing down investor sentiment when it comes to the world’s major economies.
Earlier this week, President Obama signed a bill passed by Congress that would raise the debt ceiling and avoid default. The combative negotiations that preceded the deal, however, highlighted the deep political divide in Washington. We asked Robert Gilbert, the Edward W. Brooke Professor in Northeastern’s Department of Political Science, to examine the political climate in light of this deal, and what it means for the 2012 elections.
Congress and President Obama reached a last-minute agreement on Tuesday to raise the nation’s debt ceiling, and avoid default. However, the crisis has damaged the United States’ standing in the world’s economy, according to Kamran Dadkhah, an associate professor of economics at Northeastern University.
Congress and President Obama have yet to reach an agreement to raise the nation’s debt ceiling, a necessity to ensure that the United States is able to meet its financial obligations. William Dickens, a Distinguished Professor of Economics and Social Policy at Northeastern, said that the U.S. economy could slide into depression if a deal is not agreed upon by the Aug. 2 deadline.
Treasury Secretary Timothy Geitner says Congress has until August 2nd to approve an increase in the federal debt limit — enabling the Treasury to borrow more money — or the U.S. government will not be able to meet all of its financial obligations. Here, Northeastern finance and economics instructor Richard Goettle discusses what could happen to the economy if Congress and the White House fail to find common ground.
On Monday, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner told Congress the U.S. has reached its debt ceiling — the limit on how much money the government can borrow. Not only has raising this limit been at times a contentious political issue, it also raises larger issues related to the U.S. economy’s long-term health, says Kamran Dadkhah, associate professor of economics at Northeastern University.
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