Donald Marron, head of the Brookings-Urban Tax Policy Center and former
director of the Congressional Budget Office, wrote a great post yesterday
arguing for the platinum coin as a last resort in the deficit-ceiling standoff.
He says something particularly important about the alternatives to the coin:
Analysts have considered a range of other options
for avoiding default, including prioritizing payments, asserting the debt limit
is unconstitutional, and temporarily selling the gold in Fort Knox. All raise
severe practical, legal, and image problems. In this ugly group, the platinum
coin looks relatively shiny. In particular, it would be much less provocative
than President Obama asserting the debt limit is unconstitutional.
