[HIGHLIGHTS] This is what the U.S. economy will lose if the country defaults.

The U.S. public debt exceeds $31 trillion, equivalent to 125 percent of the country's GDP.

Republicans refuse to agree to raise the federal public debt ceiling, which is usually routine, unless Democrats first approve deep spending cuts. If the US labor market could lose more than 8 million jobs this summer, financial markets will lose 45% in the third quarter of the year, according to the White House Council of Economic Advisers. This is a major risk for the United States, as the country has never found itself in default.