United States debt债务美国.docx

United States debt债务美国.docx

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UnitedStatesdebt债务美国

UnitedStatesdebt-ceilingcrisis

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TheUnitedStatesdebt-ceilingcrisiswasafinancialcrisisin2011thatstartedasadebateintheUnitedStatesCongressaboutincreasingthedebtceiling.Thecrisisendedwhenacomplexdealwasreachedthatraisedthedebtceilingandreducedproposedincreasestofuturegovernmentspending,althoughsimilardebatesarepossibleforfuturebudgets.[1]Aspartoftheaftermath,thecrisishadamajorpoliticalimpactintheUnitedStates,inwhichpublicsupportforCongressfelldramatically.PresidentBarackObamaandSpeakeroftheHouseJohnBoehnerannouncedonJuly31thatanagreementhadbeenachieved.AfterthelegislationwaspassedbyboththeHouseandSenate,PresidentObamasignedtheBudgetControlActof2011intolawonAugust2,thedateestimatedbythedepartmentoftheTreasurythattheborrowingauthorityoftheUSwouldbeexhausted.[2]

Fourdayslater,onAugust5,thecredit-ratingagencyStandard&Poor'sdowngradedthecreditratingofUSgovernmentbondforthefirsttimeinthecountry'shistory.MarketsaroundtheworldaswellasthethreemajorindexesintheUSthenexperiencedtheirmostvolatileweeksincethe2008financialcrisiswiththeDowJonesIndustrialAverageplungingfor635points（or5.6%）inoneday.YieldsonUSTreasuries,however,droppedasinvestors,anxiousoverthedismalprospectsoftheUSeconomicfutureandtheongoingEuropeansovereign-debtcrisis,fledintothesafetyofUSgovernmentbondsandbondsofothersafehaveneconomies.[3]Moody'sandFitch,however,haveretainedAmerica'screditratingatAAA.

Contents[hide]

1Context

2Background

2.1DebtCeiling

2.2Recentconcernaboutbudgetdeficitsandlong-termdebt

2.3Negativerealinterestrates

3Resorttoextraordinarymeasures

3.1Alternateviewsofthedeadline

4Implicationsofnotraisingthedebtceiling

5Proposedresolutions

5.1Possiblemethodsofbypassingthedebtceiling

5.1.1FourteenthAmendment

5.1.2Mintingcoinsinextremelyhighdenominations

5.1.3Monetizinggold

5.1.4Convertingfractionalreservetofullreservebanking

6Agreement

7Reaction

7.1USreaction

7.1.1Congressionalreaction

7.2Internationalreaction

7.3Politicalaftermath

8Timeline

9Seealso

10References

11Externallinks

[edit]ContextUnderUSlaw,anadministrationcanspendonlyifithassufficientfundstopayforit.ThesefundscancomeeitherfromtaxreceiptsorfromborrowingbytheUnitedStatesDepartmentoftheTreasury.Congresshassetadebtceiling,beyondwhichTreasurycannotborrow.Intheabsenceofsufficientrevenue,afailuretoraisethedebtceilingwouldresultintheadministrationbeingunabletofundallthespendingwhichitisrequiredtodobyprioractsofCongress.Atthatpoint,thegovernmentmustcancelordelaysomespending,asituationsometimesreferredasapartialgovernmentshutdown.

Inaddition,theObamaadministrationstatedthat,withoutthisincrease,theUSwouldentersovereigndefault（failuretopaytheinterestand/orprincipalofUStreasurysecuritiesontime）therebycreatinganinternationalcrisisinthefinancialmarkets.Alternatively,defaultcouldbeavertedifthegovernmentweretopromptlyreduceitsotherspendingbyabouthalf.[4][5][6]

AnincreaseinthedebtceilingrequirestheapprovalofbothhousesofCongress.RepublicansandsomeDemocratsinsistedthatanincreaseinthedebtceilingbecoupledwithaplantoreducethegrowthindebt.Thereweredifferencesastohowtoreducetheexpectedincreaseinthedebt.Initially,nearlyallRepublicanlegislators（whoheldamajorityintheHouseofRepresentatives）opposedanyincreaseintaxesandproposedlargespendingcuts.AlargemajorityofDemocraticlegislators（whoheldamajorityintheSenate）favoredtaxincreasesalongwithsmallerspendingcuts.SupportersoftheTeaPartymovementpushedtheirfellowRepublicanstorejectanyagreementthatfailedtoincorporatelargeandimmediatespendingcutsoraconstitutionalamendmentrequiringabalancedbudget.[7][8]

[edit]Background

USdebtceilingattheendofeachyearfrom1981to2010.ThegraphindicateswhichpresidentandwhichpoliticalpartycontrolledCongresseachyear.

USdebtfrom1940to2010.RedlinesindicatetheDebtHeldbythePublic（netpublicdebt）andblacklinesindicatetheTotalPublicDebtOutstanding（grosspublicdebt）.Thedifferencebetweenthetwoisthedebtthatisheldbythefederalgovernmentitself.ThesecondpanelshowsthetwodebtfiguresasapercentageofUSGDP（dollarvalueofUSeconomicproductionforthatyear）.Thetoppanelisdeflatedsoeveryyearisin2010dollars.[edit]DebtCeilingSeealso:

UnitedStatespublicdebt#Debtceiling

IntheUnitedStates,thefederalgovernmentcanpayforexpendituresonlyifCongresshasapprovedtheexpenditure.Ifthetotalexpenditureexceedstherevenuescollectedthereisabudgetdeficit,andtheonlywaythattheshortfallcanbepaidforisforthegovernment,throughtheDepartmentoftheTreasury,toborrowtheshortfallamountbytheissueofdebtinstruments.Underfederallaw,theamountthatthegovernmentcanborrowislimitedbythedebtceiling,whichcanonlybeincreasedwithavotebyCongress.

Priorto1917,Congressdirectlyauthorizedtheamountofeachborrowing.In1917,inordertoprovidemoreflexibilitytofinancetheUSinvolvementinWorldWarI,Congressinstitutedtheconceptofa"debtceiling".Sincethen,theTreasurymayborrowanyamountneededaslongasitkeepsthetotalatorbelowtheauthorizedceiling.Somesmallspecialclassesofdebtarenotincludedinthistotal.[citationneeded]Tochangethedebtceiling,Congressmustenactspecificlegislation,andthePresidentmustsignitintolaw.

Theprocessofsettingthedebtceilingisseparateanddistinctfromtheregularprocessoffinancinggovernmentoperations,andraisingthedebtceilingdoesnothaveanydirectimpactonthebudgetdeficit.TheUSgovernmentpassesafederalbudgeteveryyear.Thisbudgetdetailsprojectedtaxcollectionsandoutlaysand,therefore,theamountofborrowingthegovernmentwouldhavetodointhatfiscalyear.Avotetoincreasethedebtceilingis,therefore,usuallyseenasaformality,neededtocontinuespendingthathasalreadybeenapprovedpreviouslybytheCongressandthePresident.TheGovernmentAccountabilityOfficeexplains:

"Thedebtlimitdoesnotcontrolorlimittheabilityofthefederalgovernmenttorundeficitsorincurobligations.Rather,itisalimitontheabilitytopayobligationsalreadyincurred."[9]Theapparentredundancyofthedebtceilinghasledtosuggestionsthatitshouldbeabolishedaltogether.[10][11]

TheUShashadpublicdebtsinceitsinception.DebtsincurredduringtheAmericanRevolutionaryWarandundertheArticlesofConfederationledtothefirstyearlyreportontheamountofthedebt（$75,463,476.52onJanuary1,1791）.EverypresidentsinceHarryTrumanhasaddedtothenationaldebt.Thedebtceilinghasbeenraised74timessinceMarch1962,[12]including18timesunderRonaldReagan,eighttimesunderBillClinton,seventimesunderGeorgeW.Bushandthreetimes（asofAugust2011[update]）underBarackObama.

AsofMay2011[update],approximately40percentofUSgovernmentspendingreliedonborrowedmoney.[13]Raisingthedebtceilingallowsthefederalgovernmenttocontinuetoborrowmoneytosupportcurrentspendinglevels.Ifthedebtceilinghadnotbeenraised,thefederalgovernmentwouldhavehadtocutspendingimmediatelyby40percent,affectingmanydailyoperationsofthegovernment,[13]besidestheimpactonthedomesticandinternationaleconomies.Treasurycandeterminewhatitemswouldbepaid.[14]Iftheinterestpaymentsonthenationaldebtarenotmade,theUSwouldbeindefault,potentiallycausingcatastrophiceconomicconsequencesfortheUSandthewiderworldaswell.（EffectsoutsidetheUSwouldbelikelybecausetheUnitedStatesisamajortradingpartnerwithmanycountries.Othermajorworldpowerswhoholditsdebtcoulddemandrepayment.）

AccordingtotheTreasury,"failingtoincreasethedebtlimitwould...causethegovernmenttodefaultonitslegalobligations–anunprecedentedeventinAmericanhistory".[15]TheselegalobligationsincludepayingSocialSecurityandMedicarebenefits,militarysalaries,interestonthedebt,andmanyotheritems.MakingthepromisedpaymentsoftheprincipalandinterestofUStreasurysecuritiesontimeensuresthatthenationdoesnotdefaultonitssovereigndebt.[16][17]

Criticshavearguedthatthedebtceilingcrisisis"self-inflicted,"[18]astreasurybondinterestrateswereathistoricallows,andtheUShadnomarketrestrictionsonitsabilitytoobtainadditionalcredit.[citationneeded]Thedebtceilinghasbeenraised68timessince1960.Sometimestheincreasewastreatedasroutine,manytimesitwasusedtoscorepoliticalpointsfortheminoritypartybycriticizingtheout-of-controlspendingofthemajority.[19]TheonlyothercountrywithadebtlimitisDenmark,whichhassetitsdebtceilingsohighthatitisunlikelytobereached.[18]Ifraisingthelimitceasestoberoutine,thismaycreateuncertaintyforglobalmarketseachtimeadebtceilingincreaseisdebated.[18]Thedebt-ceilingcrisisof2011hasshownhowapartyincontrolofonlyonechamberofCongress（inthiscase,RepublicansincontroloftheHouseofRepresentativesbutnottheSenateorthePresidency）canhavesignificantinfluenceifitchoosestoblocktheroutineraisingofthedebtlimit.[20]

[edit]Recentconcernaboutbudgetdeficitsandlong-termdebtSeealso:

UnitedStatespublicdebt#Causesofchange