Defaults, Debt Ceilings and the 14th Amendment | Robert A. Levy | Cato Institute: Commentary

Defaults, Debt Ceilings and the 14th Amendment | Robert A. Levy | Cato Institute: Commentary: "Congress and the president would be compelled either to reduce spending, raise taxes, sell the Treasury's mortgage-backed securities ($100 billion) or gold ($389 billion), delay principal and interest on debt held by the Federal Reserve (16% of total debt) or simply revalue the Treasury's gold certificates at the current market price (a gain of $378 billion) by amending the Par Value Modification Act. The choices to avoid default are numerous, notwithstanding a debt ceiling."