Robert Rubin: Get Rid of the Debt Ceiling Once and for All
Regularly putting the entire economy at risk is in no way “fiscally responsible.”
By Robert E. Rubin
Drawing from over five decades of experience analyzing markets and economic policy, including serving as Treasury Secretary during the first major debt ceiling crisis in 1995, Robert Rubin has come to a clear conclusion: it's time to eliminate the debt ceiling entirely. While Bob has long been concerned about the national debt and has advocated for fiscal responsibility, even when it wasn't popular among fellow Democrats, he now sees that the debt ceiling has become a dangerous economic weapon rather than a tool for fiscal prudence.
The recurring pattern of debt ceiling brinkmanship creates unnecessary risks to our economy, both immediate and long-term, Bob argues. Even if default remains unlikely in any single confrontation, the cumulative risk over repeated crises is significant. A default would cause widespread market disruption, affecting everything from Treasury bills to consumer loans, while damaging America's global credibility. Moreover, these manufactured crises could actually worsen our fiscal outlook by potentially raising borrowing costs and reducing tax revenues through economic slowdown – the opposite of fiscal responsibility. Congress already has the power to make taxation and spending decisions through the regular budget process, making the debt ceiling vote an unnecessary and potentially destructive redundancy.
