Yellen warns of potential US default and widespread suffering.
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen warned of "widespread suffering" and a potential stock market crash if the US fails to raise the government's borrowing authority in the coming weeks. Yellen said millions of Americans who rely on payments from the federal government would likely go unpaid, ranging from 66 million Social Security beneficiaries to millions of veterans and military families. She warned that a situation where the US runs out of cash to pay its bills and defaults on its debt "would generate an economic and financial catastrophe."