Villamil: Debt ceiling crisis could lead to economic ‘tailspin’

Anne Villamil is nothing if not frank, and her assessment of the federal government’s debt crisis is stark and unequivocal.

In her view, failing to raise the current U.S. debt ceiling would result in the United States defaulting on its debt obligation for the first time in history, a “disaster” resulting in “a huge loss of reputation” that would “send global markets into a tailspin.”

Ms. Villamil, an economics professor…