Yellen warns of US default and calls for Social Security and Medicare reform.
US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen warned that a default on government debt would likely trigger a recession that could destroy many American jobs and businesses, leaving millions of Americans without income payments. Yellen urged Congress to avoid the "eleventh-hour brinkmanship" over the debt ceiling in 2011 that led to the first-ever downgrade of the US credit rating. Failure to reach a deal would result in severe economic and financial consequences, she said. Yellen gave an upbeat assessment of the health of US community banks, noting that many reported higher net income in 2022 than before the pandemic.