The TEOTWAWKI scenario doesn’t look likely. Do note two things:
The Treasury isn’t prohibited from spending money or paying back the debt. It’s prohibited from borrowing more. Effectively that’s the same thing as saying that the Federal governement will have to run a balanced budget starting right now.
The Fed. The Fed can do whatever it wants and guess what it can do—it can print money! Moreover, it can print money and give it to anyone it likes, for example banks (threatened by bank runs) or, probably, even the Treasury.
The TEOTWAWKI scenario doesn’t look likely. Do note two things:
The Treasury isn’t prohibited from spending money or paying back the debt. It’s prohibited from borrowing more. Effectively that’s the same thing as saying that the Federal governement will have to run a balanced budget starting right now.
The Fed. The Fed can do whatever it wants and guess what it can do—it can print money! Moreover, it can print money and give it to anyone it likes, for example banks (threatened by bank runs) or, probably, even the Treasury.