"The only person liable for the debt, and the only entity responible for paying the interest on Treasury debt, is the US Treasury itself. And the UST has never defaulted, at least not on purpose. Once, in 1979, it faced a technical default on $122 million in coupon payments for short term Treasury bills because of a Post Office error. The error affected under 1% of the US debt being paid at the time, but interest rates on short term bonds rose nearly 1% in a short period because of that error. Bond prices fell. Lawsuits against the US Treasury Secretary ensued immediately.
One can only imagine what would happen if the US government missed a payment now. In short, it would be much worse. Bond prices would fall higher. Interest rates on short-term loans would jump like a gazelle. Gold and oil prices would push higher, causing inflation in big emerging markets like China and Brazil, and pressuring gasoline prices in the US"......................LINK
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