Time to abolish the debt ceiling?
Moody's says it is, because D.C.'s partisan wrangling over borrowing unnecessarily unnerves the markets
![House Speaker John Boehner and President Obama are trying to reach a deal to raise the nation's $14.3 trillion debt ceiling before the Treasury runs out of money to meet its financial obligat](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/sasgaPTnsAabgW3Z769UyQ-415-80.jpg)
As congressional Republicans and the Obama administration butt heads over a deal to raise the U.S. debt limit before an Aug. 2 deadline, credit-rating agency Moody's has a different suggestion: Scrap the debt ceiling altogether. The current system requires that Congress authorize any increase in the Treasury's borrowing limit, and creates "periodic uncertainty" every time the feds need to to rack up more debt to pay our bills, without doing anything to actually rein in spending, says Moody's analyst Steven Hess. Should we abandon the debt ceiling altogether?
Yes. We don't need the debt ceiling: Scrapping the anachronistic debt ceiling "is very, very good policy," says Dylan Matthews at The Washington Post. Denmark is the only other country with anything like our artificial borrowing limit, and not only do other developed nations seem to get along fine without it, but so did the U.S. between 1979 and 1995, when the "Gephardt rule" automatically upped the debt limit every time Congress increased our national debt. And obviously, eliminating the debt ceiling altogether would vastly reduce the number of needless partisan standoffs in D.C.
"Moody's wants the debt ceiling gone"
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
![https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516-320-80.jpg)
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
No. The debt ceiling is just starting to work: Just because the debt ceiling has so far failed to impede government growth is no reason to ditch it, says Jonathan Tobin at Commentary. In fact, as the current "messy" negotiations show, giving Congress power over debt growth can work, if Congress is brave enough to use it. The threat of default has "brought the Democrats to the negotiating table and forced them to concede spending cuts heretofore unimaginable."
"There's a reason we have a debt ceiling"
The debt ceiling was never meant to restrain borrowing: If Congress wants to stop growing the national debt, all it has to do is stop voting to spend more money than the country brings in, says Doug Mataconis at Outside the Beltway. That was never supposed to be the debt ceiling's job. History shows that the debt ceiling was simply Congress' strategy to get out of the Treasury's way and "make it easier for the federal government to issue debt." It also allows Congress to "demagogue on the debt issue, pretend that it is acting responsibly, but in reality do absolutely nothing." It's time to abolish this useless legislative requirement and hold lawmakers responsible for their spending decisions.
"Moody's is right, eliminate the debt ceiling"
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
Big Tech's answer for AI-driven job loss: universal basic income
In The Spotlight A new study reveals the strengths and limitations
By Joel Mathis, The Week US Published
-
'I will not be silent' on Gaza, says Kamala Harris
Speed Read In a meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Harris supported Israel's right to defend itself while expressing a desire to end Palestinian suffering
By Arion McNicoll, The Week UK Published
-
'How long can TikTok dominate as a social network?'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
By Justin Klawans, The Week US Published
-
How could J.D. Vance impact the special relationship?
Today's Big Question Trump's hawkish pick for VP said UK is the first 'truly Islamist country' with a nuclear weapon
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
Biden, Trump urge calm after assassination attempt
Speed Reads A 20-year-old gunman grazed Trump's ear and fatally shot a rally attendee on Saturday
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Supreme Court rejects challenge to CFPB
Speed Read The court rejected a conservative-backed challenge to the way the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is funded
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Arizona court reinstates 1864 abortion ban
Speed Read The law makes all abortions illegal in the state except to save the mother's life
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
Trump, billions richer, is selling Bibles
Speed Read The former president is hawking a $60 "God Bless the USA Bible"
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
The debate about Biden's age and mental fitness
In Depth Some critics argue Biden is too old to run again. Does the argument have merit?
By Grayson Quay Published
-
How would a second Trump presidency affect Britain?
Today's Big Question Re-election of Republican frontrunner could threaten UK security, warns former head of secret service
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
'Rwanda plan is less a deterrent and more a bluff'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
By The Week UK Published