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Senate passes Trump's tax bill, sending it to House for final vote The Washington PostHere's how Trump's megabill will affect you CNNSome House Republicans Already Plan to Vote Against Trump's Policy Bill The New York TimesJohnson on the megabill: ‘ I'm not happy with what the Senate did to our product' Politico
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Tesla Stock Is Falling as Trump-Musk Feud Escalates. Where It Goes Next. Barron's‘A billion people backing you': China transfixed as Musk turns against Trump The Guardian"So Tempting To Escalate": Musk Responds To Trump's Deportation Threat NDTV
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Trade wars causing a hiring freeze. Artificial intelligence taking human jobs away. An immigration crackdown shrinking the pool of available workers. There's a lot to worry about U.S. jobs market these days.
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Note: A version of this episode first ran in 2023.
Every year, the U.S. government spends more money than it takes in. In order to fund all that spending, the country takes on debt. Congress has the power to limit how much debt the U.S. takes on. Once we reach that limit, Congress has a few options so that the government keeps paying its bills: Raise the debt limit, suspend it, or eliminate it entirely.
Which is daunting, because if lawmakers don't figure something out in time, the ramifications for the global economy could be huge.
Shai Akabas, of the Bipartisan Policy Center, has become something of the go-to expert in calculating the exact date America would hit the wall and not be able to pay all its debts. This day is so terrifying it has a special name, the X-Date.
Today's episode is about how Akabas and Jay Powell — long before he became chair of the Federal Reserve — worked to create a system to determine the X-Date with the hope of helping us all never reach it.
We also have an update on this year's looming X-Date, which could arrive as soon as this summer.
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