Secretary of the Treasury Geithner just sent Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid a letter.
Noting that in 5 days the US will again have hit the debt ceiling, Secretary Geithner explains that actually, we might have an extra 2 months. In an appendix to his letter, he outlines 4 types of “extraordinary measures” that will let us avoid a debt default for awhile. He adds though, that he is not sure how long he can stretch it because of the uncertainty created by the current negotiations over tax increases and spending cuts. (Ironically, no Congressional tax and spending deal means more time to get a new ceiling.)
Where is the debt ceiling? $16.394 trillion.
Where were we on December 26th? $16.027 trillion.
Some history…
In 1917, Congress decided it could not keep track of every U.S. loan. So, to maintain some control over national finance, they said, “We will decide the maximum amount the U.S. can borrow.” And, from that day onward, whenever necessary, they voted to increase how much the U.S. could borrow. Since 1962, the U.S. Congress has raised its debt ceiling 76 times.
Sources and Resources: Here is Secretary Geithner’s letter and the Treasury Department daily update of US debt totals. For some debt history, John Steele Gordon’s Hamilton’s Blessing The Extraordinary Life and Times of the National Debt is wonderful. Also, this CNN article and these these econlife posts, Debt Ceiling 101 and Looking at the Debt Ceiling, provide some background and some of the above history.
