The US government is days away from a catastrophic default on its debts. After months of talks between Democrats and Republicans, most observers still expect a last-ditch deal to be hammered out. But has damage already been done to the country's reputation?
Dean Baker is the co-director of the Centre for Economic and Policy Research in Washington. He says that if no agreement is arrived at, the results could dwarf the impact of the 2008 crash.
Economics editor Larry Elliott and Washington correspondent Richard Adams discuss the polarised nature of the political debate around debt in the United States. With crisis looming in the eurozone it is a problem that the world economy could do without.
The Guardian's Hadley Freeman is in New York and laments the extreme nature of media commentary on the story.
Also on the podcast this week, author Gary Shteyngart discusses his inspiration for his latest novel Super Sad True Love Story - a dystopian tale set in the near future in a United States close to economic collapse.
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