Scholarship@WashULaw

Why The Statutory Debt-Limit Gimmicks Don't Work

Document Type

Blog Posting

Language

English (en)

Publication Date

2023

Publication Title

The Volokh Conspiracy on Reason

Abstract

So far as I can tell, the two big proposed statutory gimmicks are: (1) mint the giant platinum coin (practically infeasible, already rejected by Treasury, and amply dissected elsewhere over many years); and (2) issue "premium bonds," wherein the "face value" for debt limit purposes is low, but the interest rate is high—so they sell for a higher price. Because the premium bonds scheme has been dissected in less detail and has struck some commentators as obviously more plausible, I'll offer a few preliminary thoughts on it below. This is one where I'd like to learn more.

Keywords

Statutory Debt Limit, Constitutional Law

Publication Citation

Clarke, Conor, Why The Statutory Debt-Limit Gimmicks Don’t Work, The Volokh Conspiracy on Reason (May 26, 2023), https://reason.com/volokh/2023/05/26/why-the-statutory-debt-limit-gimmicks-dont-work/

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