U.S. Default Would Not Be Unprecedented | The Freeman | Ideas On Liberty

U.S. Default Would Not Be Unprecedented | The Freeman | Ideas On Liberty: "During its 235 years as a sovereign entity the United States has defaulted on three separate occasions … and has also intentionally liquidated debt via inflation."

"During the 1933 banking holiday declared by President Franklin Roosevelt immediately after his March 4 inauguration, the federal government refused requests for interest payments in gold, remitting only currency instead. Congress later ratified this action by formally invalidating gold clauses….

Meanwhile, as reported in The Economist (2011, June 23), the US Treasury failed to redeem $122 million of Treasury bills on time after another debt ceiling debate in 1979. This episode was purely a technical default, arising from systems issues…."