. >> christa freeland the editor of thompson reuters digital. what gloria says is right, no one has been able to explain beyond tim geithner saying it's going to be catastrophic what happens if we don't make those payments. go back to september 14th, 2008, smart people sat around the table and said it's not going to be that bad if we let lehman brothers collapse. we didn't know what the consequences are either. you are a global financial journalist. what happened? >> i think actually, this isn't something we need to debate that much. it is absolutely clear that if the u.s. defaults on its debt, that is a catastrophic event for america and for the global economy. that is a moment when people stop having faith in the u.s. government and they should stop having faith in the u.s. government. the u.s. government could not be paying its creditors and so new creditors are not going to be knocking on america's door. if they come in they will require much, much higher rates of interest. >> by the way, for viewers out there, that's how it affects you. if