There is no easy escape from America’s debt-ceiling mess
Defaulting is unthinkable, but the “workarounds” to avoid default bring their own dangers
MOST GAMES of chicken do not have trillion-dollar stakes. America, when Republicans in Congress face off with a Democratic president over the debt ceiling, is exceptional. This legal limit on the amount of debt issued by the Treasury is periodically raised—but never by enough to avoid a repeated standoff. Without a bipartisan political deal to raise the ceiling America would be in dangerous territory, bumbling into pointless default.
This article appeared in the United States section of the print edition under the headline “Trillion-dollar chicken”
United States January 28th 2023
- Congress is gridlocked. America’s statehouses are very much not
- Ron DeSantis wants to limit free speech in the name of free speech
- There is no easy escape from America’s debt-ceiling mess
- A shortage in America creates opportunities for nurses with wheels
- A violent dispute is impeding police reform in Atlanta
- What Edward Hopper saw
From the January 28th 2023 edition
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