Here are few recent items on the debt ceiling. I'm assuming this will occupy our attention in the first few weeks of class. Expect much more to come.
For background, click here for the Times Topic entry on the debt ceiling, and here (of course) for the wikipedia entry on the debt ceiling crisis.
- The Economist argues that debt ceiling "serves no useful purpose and should be abolished." As American politics has become more polarized, the debt ceiling - which was once just a formality - has become a "weapon of mass financial destruction."
- Fox News and the New York Times report that top Senate Democrats want the President to ignore the debt ceiling. A lot of news sources are reporting the same, and some opinion writers questions its constitutionality since it interferes with the president's requirement to see that the laws be faithfully carried out.
- Business Insider tells us that some accounting tricks can give us lots of wiggle room. I;m not too surprised that they'd say such a thing. The ex-chief of staff of the Joint Committee on Taxation does the same, As does a Yale constitutional law professor.
And then there's the trillion dollar coin idea - which I've yet to broach. more on that soon.
