When even the U.S. Treasury refers to the possibility of a debt default by the American government as “an unprecedented event in American history that would precipitate another financial crisis,” that tends to get the world’s attention.

The doomsday scenario is certainly scary: A default causes global interest rates to soar as debt priced in the world’s most liquid currency comes to be regarded as more risky, banks become more reluctant to lend — even to each other — and debt, the lifeblood of business investment, becomes less available.

As well, stock markets sell off and plunge the world into another recession.

And Canada, as an exporting country doing three quarters of its trade with the U.S., would share in that pain.

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