by Dan Mitchell | Jan 15, 2025 | Big Government, Blogs, Government Spending
My recent book explains that we are stumbling our way to a fiscal crisis. If there’s any hope of avoiding a disaster, it will probably happen when and if good members of Congress (a vanishing breed) refuse to allow an increase in the debt...
by Dan Mitchell | Jan 22, 2023 | Big Government, Blogs, Government Spending
Back in 2016, here’s what I said about the debt limit during some congressional testimony (and I made very similar points in some 2013 testimony). Near the end of my testimony (about 4:55) I discuss “prioritization,” which is what would happen if the debt limit is not...
by Dan Mitchell | Jul 16, 2019 | Blogs, Economics
One of the few theoretical constraints on Washington is that politicians periodically have to raise a “debt ceiling” or “debt limit” in order to finance additional spending with additional red ink. I have mixed feelings about this requirement. I like that there is...
by Dan Mitchell | Aug 12, 2017 | Blogs, Economics
There are some charming traditions, like the swallows returning every year to the Mission of San Juan Capistrano. But other traditions are far less impressive, most notably the make-believe hysteria that occurs every time the federal government approaches its “debt...
by Dan Mitchell | Feb 6, 2016 | Big Government, Blogs, Economics, Government Spending
Whenever there’s a fight over raising the debt limit, the political establishment gets hysterical and makes apocalyptic claims about default and economic crisis. For years, I’ve been arguing that this Chicken-Little rhetoric is absurd. And earlier this week I...
