The US could default on its debt by October

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/09/08/business/economy/united-states-debt-default.html

by sergiomattei • 5 years ago

27 23 5 years ago

nytimes.com

throwaway889900• 5 years ago

Every year now huh?

kahrl4• 5 years ago

2018-2019 (President Donald Trump): December 22, 2018 to January 25, 2019 - 34 days

2018 (President Donald Trump): January 20 to January 23 - 3 days

2018 (President Donald Trump): February 9 – 1 day.

2013 (President Barack Obama): October 1 to October. 17 - 16 days

1995-1996 (President Bill Clinton): December 16, 1995, to January 6, 1996, - 21 days

1995 (President Bill Clinton): Nov. 14 to 19 - 5 days

1990 (President George H.W. Bush): October 5 to 9 - 3 days

1987 (President Ronald Reagan): December 18 to December 20 - 1 day

1986 (President Ronald Reagan): October 16 to October 18 - 1 day

1984 (President Ronald Reagan): October 3 to October 5 - 1 day

1984 (President Ronald Reagan): September 30 to October 3 - 2 days

1983 (President Ronald Reagan): November 10 to November 14 - 3 days

1982 (President Ronald Reagan): December 17 to December 21 - 3 days

1982 (President Ronald Reagan): September 30 to October 2 - 1 day

1981 (President Ronald Reagan): November 20 to November 23 - 2 days

1979 (President Jimmy Carter): September 30 to October 12 - 11 days

1978 (President Jimmy Carter): September 30 to October 18 18 days

1977 (President Jimmy Carter): November 30 to December 9 - 8 days

1977 (President Jimmy Carter): October 31 to November 9 - 8 days

1977 (President Jimmy Carter): September 30 to October 13 - 12 days

1976 (President Gerald Ford): September 30 to October 11 - 10 days

cybernautique• 5 years ago

Thanks, great breakdown! Where did you source this from?

kinghajj• 5 years ago

So what happened between 1996 and 2013 to make the debt ceiling not a perennial issue?

handrous• 5 years ago

Shutdowns only, with descriptions of them following:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Government_shutdowns_in_the_Un...

All US funding gaps:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_United_States_federal_...

(this is not in contradiction of the parent poster—just providing convenient further-reading links for others)

chrisbolt• 5 years ago

So, the same usual debt ceiling showdown as always. Nothing new.

https://home.treasury.gov/policy-issues/financial-markets-fi...

Congress has always acted when called upon to raise the debt limit. Since 1960, Congress has acted 78 separate times to permanently raise, temporarily extend, or revise the definition of the debt limit – 49 times under Republican presidents and 29 times under Democratic presidents. Congressional leaders in both parties have recognized that this is necessary.

syops2• 5 years ago

My recollection is that the showdown aspect is something new in the sense that it has happened only under a Democrat President and started in Obama's presidency.

kahrl4• 5 years ago

Do you mean "shutdown?" The first shutdown occurred in 1980 under the Carter administration. There's been 20-ish shutdowns of varying degrees since then.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Government_shutdowns_in_the_Un...

wing-_-nuts• 5 years ago

Ah yes, another 'made for tv' political conflict. Congress could just do away with the debt ceiling entirely. Instead, they keep it in place to have a game of political football to score talking points every year or so. The ending is always the same, one side or another caves and passes it, but not before it's been plastered all over the nightly news for a couple of weeks.

Some small part of me wishes they'd touch that hot stove just once, and be left with an indelible reminder of the consequences of what they threaten.

aeternum• 5 years ago

Hasn't it happened? They basically stop paying all federal employees and it really just ends up making life quite difficult for the low-wage government workers.

omegaworks• 5 years ago

The money to pay workers gets reallocated to pay creditors, then it runs out and the US is downgraded as a credit risk making it harder and more expensive to borrow in the future.

We can also view it as a mechanism for transferring wealth to the financial sector. It gives lenders an excuse to increase the fees and interest they charge the state.

shadowgovt2• 5 years ago

It's not just political theatre... They also periodically just shut down the government for a bit, denying citizens services they've come to rely on!

Why have just the spectacle without some actual suffering thrown in?

taylodl• 5 years ago

I wonder if the news outlets lobby for the existing procedure to be kept in place just so they have this in the news cycle? It's a dependable story they can run.

Ancapistani• 5 years ago

Yep, totally true - in the same way that you will die in the next 3-4 minutes unless you reset the timer by taking a breath.

Joker_vD• 5 years ago

I also heard that one should also drink a cup water every couple hours, while not breathing at the same time.

threatofrain• 5 years ago

“We have learned from past debt limit impasses that waiting until the last minute to suspend or increase the debt limit can cause serious harm to business and consumer confidence, raise short term borrowing costs for taxpayers and negatively impact the credit rating of the United States,” she wrote.
To delay a default, Treasury has in the last month suspended investments in the Civil Service Retirement and Disability Fund, the Postal Service Retiree Health Benefits Fund and the Government Securities Investment Fund of the Federal Employees Retirement System Thrift Savings Plan.

ghastmaster• 5 years ago

Which October?

October 1934? https://mises.org/library/losing-battle-fix-gold-35

October 1971? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nixon_shock

The US could default on its debt by October

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