wallstreetexaminer.com / by Craig Wilson via The Daily Reckoning / April 3, 2017
Jim Rickards joined to discuss his book The Death of Money and the debt ceiling issues facing Trump and Congress. During the interview the two discuss everything from what to expect from Federal Reserve policy to gold prices in the coming months and years.
To start out the interview was asked on the national debt where he contends, “The debt ceiling is very important. The United States runs budget deficits year after year. In the last 50 years we have only had minimal surplus years under Nixon and Clinton. We currently have $20 trillion of debt. The Treasury cannot just borrow however much they want. The U.S Congress limits the Department of the Treasury’s ability to borrow, what is called the debt ceiling. When the Treasury wants to borrow more, you have to raise the ceiling ceiling by the legislative process – an act of Congress.”
“Officially the existing debt ceiling ran out on March 15 and the Treasury cannot borrow any more money. Right now the Treasury is within tax season so it has positive cash flow. They have more in than going out and will not need to borrow at the exact moment. That is strictly temporary and a function of tax season in. Once we get through April, the shoe is on the other foot.”
“They’re going to hit a “hard ceiling” probably by August, if not sooner. Then the issue becomes whether Congress gives the Treasury the authority to borrow more money. The problem is when passing a debt ceiling bill, the “strings attached” deals that come with them. You gain some members in doing deals and lose others. We saw that with the health fiasco and the repeal of Obamacare failed not because of Democrats but because of Republicans who could not agree amongst themselves.”
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