The trillion-dollar coin is both legal and responsible

Think minting the coin is stupid? Global financial meltdown is definitely stupider

President Biden.
(Image credit: Illustrated | iStock)

The United States and the Democratic Party face yet another self-imposed crisis: the debt ceiling. At some point in mid-October, the government is going to run out of legal borrowing authority, which means a technical default on the national debt, and from there, quite possibly, a shattering global financial crisis. As yet there is little sign Republicans will vote not to destroy the economy or Democrats will carve out an exemption from the filibuster so they can raise the ceiling by themselves.

There is a simple solution to this dilemma: the famous trillion-dollar platinum coin. President Biden could direct the Treasury to mint such a coin, which would allow the government to fund itself with printed money for a time. Biden can do this legally, and he should. The platinum coin option is a legal and sensible way out of an impossibly stupid problem.

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Ryan Cooper

Ryan Cooper is a national correspondent at TheWeek.com. His work has appeared in the Washington Monthly, The New Republic, and the Washington Post.