1 of 3 | House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA) leaves a House Republican Caucus meeting on Capitol Hill in Washington on July 28, 2011. UPI/Kevin Dietsch |
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WASHINGTON, July 28 (UPI) -- The nation's top bankers and other executives Thursday urged U.S. President Barack Obama and Congress to come to terms to solve the debt-deficit crisis now.
Political leaders have been wrestling with raising the $14.3 trillion debt ceiling and reducing the budget deficit for months. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner has said if nothing is done by next Tuesday, the United States will be forced to default on some of its obligations, triggering a possible downgrade of the country's triple-A debt rating.
Fourteen members of the Financial Services Forum, a non-partisan financial and economic policy organization made up of the chief executives of the largest banks and other financial institutions, sent a letter to the White House and Capitol Hill, urging "concrete steps to put our nation on a sound fiscal footing.
"The consequences of inaction -- for our economy, the already struggling job market, the financial circumstances of American businesses and families, and for America's global economic leadership -- would be very grave.
"Our economic recovery remains very fragile. A default on our nation's obligations, or a downgrade of America's credit rating, would be a tremendous blow to business and investor confidence -- raising interest rates for everyone who borrows, undermining the value of the dollar, and roiling stock and bond markets -- and, therefore, dramatically worsening our nation's already difficult economic circumstances. Given this very real risk, policymakers must correct our fiscal course now, inspire market confidence by paying all of our bills on time, and demonstrate that America is a democracy capable of putting differences aside to solve our most challenging problems."
Among those signing the letter were Allstate Insurance Co. Chairman and CEO Thomas Wilson, Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan, BNY Mellon Chairman and CEO Robert Kelly, Citigroup CEO Vikram S. Pandit, Edward Jones Managing Partner Jim Weddle, Goldman Sachs Chairman and CEO Lloyd C. Blankfein and JPMorgan Chase Chairman and CEO James Dimon.
