Bowles Says 50% Chance Debt Supercommittee Would Agree on Plan

Erskine Bowles, former co-chairman of President Barack Obama’s debt commission, said there’s a 50 percent chance that Congress’s deficit supercommittee will agree on a plan.

Bowles, in an interview today on Bloomberg Television, said he believes a downgrade of U.S. debt is “very possible” if the supercommittee doesn’t come up with a plan to cut the deficit. Bowles and former senator Alan Simpson, who led Obama’s 2010 fiscal panel, plan to testify today before the supercommittee.

Bowles, White House chief of staff during the Clinton administration, said a $4 trillion deficit-reduction plan is the “minimum” amount needed to lower the deficit. He said there’s a 20 percent chance the commission would agree on a large-scale plan.

To contact the reporter on this story: Peter Cook in Washington at pcook6@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Laurie Asseo at lasseo1@bloomberg.net

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Nov. 1 (Bloomberg) -- Robert Shapiro, chairman of Sonecon LLC, and Kevin Hassett, director of economic-policy studies at the American Enterprise Institute, debate the tax options Congress's deficit supercommittee may consider. Bloomberg Government analyst Joann Weiner moderates this edition of Bloomberg Government's "BGOV Debate." (Source: Bloomberg)

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Nov. 1 (Bloomberg) -- Erskine Bowles and Alan Simpson, who led President Barack Obama's 2010 fiscal commission, talk about their testimony today before Congress’s deficit supercommittee. They speak with Peter Cook on Bloomberg Television's "InBusiness with Margaret Brennan." (Source: Bloomberg)