Catastrophic Consequences of a U.S. Default Explained   As we
close out the first week of the government shutdown, a bigger
and even more toxic disaster is creeping into the fray that
could make the contentious budget battle look like a slap fight.
The Treasury Department said Uncle Sam will be broke by October
17th unless something is done. Treasury secretary Jack Lew
hammered home that point Thursday by releasing an unusually
ominous statement that warned of catastrophic risks to the
economy.  House Speaker John Boehner has said he won't let the
government default on its debt, but until steps are taken to
raise the nation's debt ceiling, the possibility of default is
still theoretically alive.  "If they seriously default on the
debt, what we're really talking about is a depression," says
veteran financial sector analyst Richard Bove, VP of research at
Rafferty Capital Markets. In the attached video he explains how
the fallout would be a lot worse than the recession suffered in
2008 and the aftershocks would