Chris Edwards, an economic analyst at the Cato Institute, said that as the U.S. owes a whopping $7 trillion to foreigners, the federal government would be forced to either hike taxes or cut spending immediately to be able to pay the increased interest.
The good news during the latest government showdown is that most of the federal debt is owned by U.S. shareholders.
The bad news is that still leaves roughly $7 trillion in federal debt abroad.
That includes $1.1 trillion held in Japan a...
