Disruptions in the debt markets from a U.S. government default would be minimized as long as lawmakers gave enough advance notice of which securities would be affected.
Treasury Secretary Jacob J. Lew has said that the accounting moves the U.S. has been using since May to stay below the nation’s $16.7 trillion debt limit will expire on Oct. 17. On that day, the Treasury has $120 billion of bills maturing, followed by $93 billion in more of its shortest maturity debt instruments due on Oct. 24.
