Wall Street: Debt Ceiling Debate Could Roil Markets

The risk of a government shutdown amid the last-minute wrangling over the budget last week may have had little impact on financial markets. But if there is similar dithering over lifting the debt limit before the May 16 deadline, all heck could break loose, Wall Street executives say, according to The Hill.

Steve Bell of the Bipartisan Policy Center says his group’s scholars have heard from Wall Street bigwigs who are worried. “They said that Congress better not think they can play the same shenanigans with the debt ceiling,” he told The Hill.

Douglas Holtz-Eakin, former director of the Congressional Budget Office, makes the same point. “What markets typically dislike the most is uncertainty,” he said. “The more it drags out, the greater that impact will be, and that’s not a good thing.”