👉 Background: The US government has a whole range of expenses every single month. We're talking Social Security, Medicare, military salaries, interest on national debt, and more. They also generate revenue from taxes and other sales too.

👉 What happened: The amount the US government earns isn't enough to cover the spending. As a result, the US runs a budget deficit and they need to borrow money to make up the difference. And right now, the government is facing its 'debt ceiling'.

👉 What else: Some experts reckon they'll hit it in less than 3 weeks... And that means the US could default on its debts for the first time in history in 3 weeks - that is, if nothing is done.

What's the key learning?

💡The debt ceiling is a legal limit on how much money the US government can borrow to cover its expenses. Think of it like a $31.4 trillion dollar credit card limit for the entire country - the more money the US borrows, the closer it gets to hitting the debt ceiling.

💡This has been an ongoing problem for the US. Since 1960, the US congress revised the debt ceiling 78 times. But if the debt ceiling isn't revised for a 79th time, the US won't be able to borrow more money to pay its bills.

💡There are a whole range of crafty solutions: like minting a trillion dollar coin, which would literally pay down this debt with an imaginary coin. Or, the government can agree to raise the debt ceiling... again.