The big problem is how this exports pain outside the US. Even if the US could allow US companies to default for a year without penalty, the Chinese companies e

The big problem is how this exports pain outside the US. Even if the US could allow US companies to default for a year without penalty, the Chinese companies expecting coupon payments wouldn't receive the funds they use to operate. They would then have to default on their Chinese obligations. If Chinese companies can't pay their debts in China, China faces huge pressure to devalue or inflate. They're unlikely to adopt the forgiveness rule. Emerging markets are at the end of this game of crack the whip.