All governments have been bankrupt for a long time. Some governments have never not been bankrupt. Yet, the countries continue to exist. The United States has been bankrupt for decades. I always chuckle when the topic of a debt ceiling occurs. LOL. There is no debt ceiling. It's properly called a trans debt ceiling because it just doesn't exist. What we're witnessing now is the effect of our debt. Other countries want to stop allowing us to take on more debt because we can't pay it. The problem with this is, the system has been running like this for a long time: there's a lot of inertia to overcome. The short answer is no country will declare bankruptcy. Debt will continue to climb until other countries simply stop doing business with us. This is the new normal. I suppose you can look at it like a Ponzi scheme where everyone realizes it's a ponzi scheme and they all shrug their shoulders and carry on.