The Extremely Serious Case For Minting the $1 Trillion Coin

Okay. Deep breath. The $1 trillion coin. Let’s do this.

You already know the basic contours of this whole discussion. It goes like this: There’s this silly, anachronistic and ineffectual law on the books called the Debt Ceiling. And in recent years, it’s become increasingly politicized and difficult to get the ceiling raised. But the good news is that there’s another silly law on the books, written in 1996, that specifically lets the Treasury Secretary create a shiny platinum coin of any denomination. And so, in the event that the government is faced with the unthinkable — not having the authority to pay its bills because it hit the debt ceiling — the Treasury can mint a $1 trillion platinum coin, deposit it at the Federal Reserve, and resume spending as usual.