Many conservatives are openly calling for the U.S. Treasury to default on the national debt. They have been doing so for years in obscure publications. But now with Republican control of the House and the power of the right-wing populist Tea Party movement within the GOP, and the need to raise the debt ceiling within the next few months, the possibility of default is no longer theoretical, but a real possibility. If the debt limit is not raised, the Treasury may lack the cash to pay interest on the debt, thus leading to a default. Following are some commentaries and reports on the issue of a U.S. debt default.
Edmund L. Andrews, “Some Experts Are Bracing for Default on U.S. Debt,” The Fiscal Times (October 18, 2010): link.
Bruce Bartlett, “Debt Default: It Can Happen Here,” The Fiscal Times (June 11, 2010): link.
Geoffrey Brennan and Giuseppe Eupsepi, “The Dubious Ethics of Debt Default,” Public Finance Review (November 2002): link.
Carlo Cottarelli et al., “Default in Today’s Advanced Economies: Unnecessary, Undesirable, and Unlikely,” International Monetary Fund (September 1, 2010): link.
Kathleen Day, “With Debt Burgeoning, Could the U.S. Default?” Washington Post (June 14, 1992): link.
Michael Hogan, “Niall Ferguson: America Needs to Cancel Its Debt,” Vanity Fair (January 20, 2009): link.
Jeffrey Rogers Hummel, “Should the National Debt Be Repudiated?” Caliber (August-September 1981): link.
Jeffrey Rogers Hummel, “U.S. Government Default: Good, Bad, or Just Plain Ugly?” Liberty & Power blog (August 20, 2008): link.
Arnaud Marès, “Ask Not Whether Governments Will Default, but How,” Morgan Stanley (August 26, 2010): link.
David Min, “The Big Freeze: The Conservative Pledge to Freeze the Debt Ceiling Is a Looming Disaster,” Center for American Progress (October 2010): link.
Gary North, “The Looming Federal Default: Sooner or Later?” LewRockwell.com (August 6, 2008): link.
Gary North, “The Case for America’s Future,” LewRockwell.com (October 14, 2010): link.
Dan Pilla, “Should We Cancel the National Debt?” The Freeman (November 1995): link.
Murray Rothbard, “Repudiating the National Debt,” Chronicles (June 1992): link.
David E. Sanger, “Gingrich Threatens U.S. Default If Clinton Won’t Bend on Budget,” New York Times (September 22, 1995): link.
John Tamny, “Learn to Love a U.S. Debt Default,” Forbes (May 24, 2010): link.
Bruce Bartlett is an American historian and columnist who focuses on the intersection between politics and economics. He blogs daily and writes a weekly column at The Fiscal Times. Bartlett has written for Forbes Magazine and Creators Syndicate, and his work is informed by many years in government, including as a senior policy analyst in the Reagan White House. He is the author of seven books including the New York Times best-seller, Impostor: How George W. Bush Bankrupted America and Betrayed the Reagan Legacy (Doubleday, 2006).
