😰 Raising the roof of the debt ceiling. Soon, would be great…

Construction Dive reported on the the issue of the U.S. reaching its borrowing limit through the construction industry's lens. The debt ceiling of $31.4T, yes a T, has been reached and the government has been trying to figure out their way out of this pickle since January. To put that number in perspective, that's 421 million Spot the robot construction dogs, bringing a carry on and asking for water on Spirit Airlines 523 billion times, or ending homelessness in America 1500 times.

One side won’t agree to raise the debt ceiling until spending is sliced, while the other wants a debt increase with no strings attached. Affiliations aside, a default on June 1st could result in an economic calamity that affects us all—which means owners and developers are rushing to recession-proof their businesses. Here are some more highlights from the article:

• Business and construction leaders are urging a quick resolution to the looming debt catastrophe

• President Biden and congressional leaders will continue chatting this Friday as the threat of a default on the country’s $31.4 trillion debt grows

• The CEO of the Associated General Contractors of America said that the debt ceiling debate “should be resolved immediately in a way that avoids near-term calamity while ensuring financial stability over the long run.”

• If a default occurs on the national debt by June 1st, as the Treasury Department believes, the U.S. economy will see catastrophically high interest rates, while some estimate that 7.8 million jobs could be lost and the jobless rate could double to 8%.

🔨 Here's the Thing

With America incessantly saturated with crisis news, and most of us taking for granted that this issue will figure itself out one way or another (we say "us," because, The SLAB also leans toward this baselessly optimistic projection), there's a low level of concern or pressuring of officials towards compromise, aside from industry leaders saying things like "You should really figure this out."

U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said, word-for-word, that America’s decline into default would trigger an “economic catastrophe.” U.S. businesses would see failing credit markets, the cost of borrowing would skyrocket, and the government wouldn’t be able to support military families and seniors who need Social Security to survive. As far as construction goes, it's bleak. The country as a whole's Credit Karma score would drop to a frowny face emoji and recent bank failures are already putting a strain on construction borrowing. This would also create more scrutiny on borrowers. And you can bank on (sorry) further interest rate hikes to account for now-proven risk.

Raising the debt ceiling seems like the safest option—and most Americans (58%) agree. Both Biden and the Republicans have too much to lose on this one; Biden doesn't want to lower his already low approval rating so close to reelection, and the right can’t risk being the cause of a default due to agreement gridlock since their wish list spending cuts aren’t likely to make a dent in the debt ceiling issue anyway.

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See you next week, The SLAB

PS: No, the SLAB scarf can't be won through referrals (at this time).