Statement on Reinstatement of the Statutory Debt Limit

NEW YORK — Michael A. Peterson, President and CEO of the Peter G. Peterson Foundation, commented today on the reinstatement of the statutory debt limit. In a separate report released today, the Peterson Foundation estimates that lawmakers will have to act to raise the debt limit by October or November of 2015 to avoid a technical default.
Peterson said,
“Lawmakers have the opportunity and responsibility to work together to ensure that we don’t return to the damaging pattern of government-by-crisis. As the economic recovery is finally taking hold, uncertainty, brinksmanship and self-inflicted crises are exactly what we don’t need. Our elected leaders should use this as an opportunity to work together over the coming months on a bipartisan plan that sets our nation on a sustainable long-term fiscal path. Doing so would not only strengthen the current recovery, but help build a foundation for future growth, opportunity and prosperity.”
In 2013, Macroeconomic Advisers published a study analyzing the economic effects of fiscal brinksmanship. The study found that the fiscal brinksmanship in 2010-2013 cost the economy 900,000 jobs, and that an actual default would have even more severe economic consequences.
Further Reading
The Federal Government Has Borrowed Trillions. Who Owns All that Debt?
Most federal debt is owed to domestic holders, but foreign ownership is much higher now than it was about 50 years ago.
No Tax on Social Security Would Weaken Both Social Security and Medicare
Republicans in Congress are considering several new tax cuts that would reduce federal revenues by trillions of dollars over the next decade.
The United States Spends More on Defense than the Next 9 Countries Combined
Defense spending by the United States accounted for nearly 40 percent of military expenditures by countries around the world in 2023.