Future Retirement Success
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Investing
  • Stocks
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Investing
  • Stocks

Future Retirement Success

Investing

Repeal the Debt Ceiling

by May 12, 2023
May 12, 2023

Jeffrey Miron

This article appeared on SubStack on May 12, 2023.

Unless Congress cuts spending or raises taxes in the near future, the federal government will hit its debt ceiling later this summer. At that point the United States will either default or pursue “extraordinary measures,” such as minting a trillion dollar coin.

President Biden wants a “clean” increase in the ceiling; Republicans want a substantial cut in spending in exchange for raising the limit. In all likelihood, the two sides will appear to make no progress until the last second before default; they will then jointly announce a compromise that both sides portray as victory.

My view is that the United States should eliminate the debt ceiling entirely.

The potential benefit of a ceiling is that it might restrain spending. The U.S. fiscal situation is on a path to insolvency, and slowing expenditure growth—not raising taxes—is the only effective way to address this issue.

Yet it seems unlikely that “process reforms” like debt limits will restrain spending. During recent negotiations, both sides ruled out cuts to Social Security or Medicare, even though these programs are the most important causes of excess expenditure growth.

The debt ceiling, moreover, has downsides. At a minimum, it generates unneeded uncertainty every few years whenever the debt gets close to the limit.

Worse, the ceiling distracts attention from the fundamental question: how can the United States reconcile its limited ability to pay for entitlement spending with the much greater promises it has made for such spending.

Until the nation grapples with that issue, the debt limit is a sideshow. And if the country adopts an affordable path for entitlements, a debt limit is unnecessary.

0
FacebookTwitterGoogle +Pinterest
previous post
Gov. Gavin Newsom likely to announce California budget deficit may be a lot bigger than previously thought
next post
Bitcoin Slippage

You may also like

USCIS Springs Unseasonable Costs and Demands on American...

March 6, 2024

What Is a Fee to the CFPB? And Should...

April 20, 2023

The Untested Assumptions in SEC Chair Gensler’s Pivot...

July 31, 2023

The Hamas-Israel War

October 15, 2023

New Empirical Evidence That Overdose Prevention Centers Save...

March 1, 2024

Maryland’s Certificate-of-Need Law for Higher Education

September 8, 2023

Trump’s Toast, Folks

August 16, 2023

Friday Feature: Black Homeschoolers of Birmingham

December 8, 2023

In Congress, a Move To Strip Courts of...

May 9, 2025

SCOTUS Decision Against Religious Charter Is Right, But...

May 22, 2025

    Get free access to all of the retirement secrets and income strategies from our experts! or Join The Exclusive Subscription Today And Get the Premium Articles Acess for Free

    By opting in you agree to receive emails from us and our affiliates. Your information is secure and your privacy is protected.

    Recent Posts

    • Silver’s Surge is No Fluke—Here’s the Strange Ratio Driving It

      June 6, 2025
    • Friday Feature: Incubate Debate

      June 6, 2025
    • Risch urges ‘top to bottom’ USAID spending review after waste, fraud exposed

      June 6, 2025
    • Universities in Libertarian Land

      June 6, 2025
    • Elon Musk may speak to Trump aides in push to calm feud

      June 6, 2025
    • Everyone Talks About Leaving a Better Planet for Our Children: Why Don’t We Leave Better Children for Our Planet?

      June 6, 2025

    Categories

    • Business (8,149)
    • Investing (2,013)
    • Politics (15,545)
    • Stocks (3,131)
    • About us
    • Privacy Policy
    • Terms & Conditions

    Disclaimer: futureretirementsuccess.com, its managers, its employees, and assigns (collectively “The Company”) do not make any guarantee or warranty about what is advertised above. Information provided by this website is for research purposes only and should not be considered as personalized financial advice. The Company is not affiliated with, nor does it receive compensation from, any specific security. The Company is not registered or licensed by any governing body in any jurisdiction to give investing advice or provide investment recommendation. Any investments recommended here should be taken into consideration only after consulting with your investment advisor and after reviewing the prospectus or financial statements of the company.

    Copyright © 2025 futureretirementsuccess.com | All Rights Reserved