General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsThe Debt Limit thing is real, not hype
This is not a media-hype Y2K kind of story. The debt limit issue is more notable in the degree to which it is un-hyped. It's is a story the media doesn't get because it's complicated, unprecedented and in the category of, "something is sure to be done, right?"
Hitting the Ceiling: Disastrous or Utterly Disastrous?
Obama wont, cant negotiate over the debt ceiling, and Republicans still havent figured that out. So you have to say that its pretty likely that we will indeed hit the ceiling. Suppose that Obamas lawyers tell him that extraordinary measures like just ignoring the ceiling or minting the coin are out. Then what?
Well, Goldman Sachs has a short paper (not online) arguing that the government probably could prioritize payments on Treasury bills, avoiding the breakdown of markets that would come from putting the worlds key safe asset into default. They dont sound too confident. But even if theyre right, the government would still go into arrears on many other payments, from contractor bills to medical bills. And it would be forced into savage spending cuts, around 4 percent of GDP, that wouldnt just cause hardship (Surprise! No Social Security for you this month!) but amount to a severely contractionary fiscal policy, sending us into recession if it lasted any length of time.
I think this is important. Lots of people have been focusing on the possibility of a mega-Lehman event, but even if we somehow avoid that, this will be a catastrophe.
http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/10/06/hitting-the-ceiling-disastrous-or-utterly-disastrous/
lostincalifornia
(3,639 posts)cthulu2016
(10,960 posts)We can, and will, do the equivalent of covering the minimum payment on the credit cards by not buying groceries.
LaydeeBug
(10,291 posts)is pure capitulation.
Cali_Democrat
(30,439 posts)that the American political system is a joke.
So Congress authorizes spending as per the constitution, but they don't allow the executive branch to borrow the money necessery to pay the bills that Congress racked up.
Fucking ridiculous.
Barack_America
(28,876 posts)B Calm
(28,762 posts)crashed the market! Are republicans really that stupid to try it again?
Proud Liberal Dem
(24,436 posts)is that while some countries (i.e. Greece) are having severe economic problems like this, they're not experiencing them because they had one political party literally and purposely push them into it. The most disturbing aspect of all of these shutdowns and fights over the debt ceiling and the consequences thereof is that it's totally self-inflicted by one faction of one of the major political parties in our country and is in no way unavoidable- as has been the case in other countries. Stupid, stupid