A government shutdown and the prospect of the US defaulting on its debts for the first time in history add up to a perplexing mess. Government systems that have taken us through more than 200 years of our history appear broken. Meanwhile, the already struggling poor and middle classes are bearing the brunt of this dysfunction. We look at the damage that has been inflicted by the shutdown, what a default would mean, how we got here and how to find a better way to run a country.
Guests
Michael Bitzer - Associate Professor of Politics & History at Catawba College, political writer for WFAE's The Party Line blog
John Connaughton - Babson Capitol Professor of Financial Economics at UNC Charlotte
Eric Heberlig - Professor of Political Science at UNC Charlotte