21.   The amendment could easily produce periodic government defaults as political wrangling failed to keep up with unexpected shortfalls.

22.   The bang no longer seems realistic, even with talk these days, courtesy of the budget impasse, of a government default on Treasury obligations.

23.   The more likely alternative, suggests Eichengreen, was a government default on its foreign debt.

24.   These problems, combined with a currency devaluation last year and a government default on some debts, have stripped investor confidence.

25.   Yesterday, Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole predicted that Congress will eventually pass the debt-limit extension, preventing the first-ever government default on its debts.

26.   Russia is facing its worst economic crisis since the Soviet collapse following government default on loans in August and devaluation of the currency.

27.   The U.S. dollar gained against major currencies in late European trading Monday, despite the possibility of a U.S. government default.

28.   Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin has promised that President Clinton will veto the measure, which he said would lead to an immediate government default.

29.   Without the measure, the administration would be forced to dip into civil-service pension funds or take other extraordinary action to stave off an unprecedented government default.

30.   House Budget Chairman John Kasich said Congress will raise the debt ceiling to avert a government default.