Yellen dismisses $1 trillion platinum coin idea for avoiding default
Zachary Halaschak
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Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen poured cold water on the idea of minting a trillion-dollar platinum coin to bypass the country’s debt limit.
The United States hit its statutory debt limit on Thursday, and the Treasury began taking “extraordinary measures” to prevent the government from defaulting on its obligations. Congress must now raise the debt ceiling or turn to another solution in order to stave off a default.
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One such idea is a trillion-dollar platinum coin. The idea centers on an obscure law that allows the Treasury to mint a commemorative coin made of platinum in any denomination. In theory, the Treasury could mint such a coin with a $1 trillion face value and simply deposit it in the Treasury’s account at the Federal Reserve. The Treasury could then draw on the funds without having to issue new debt.
Yellen, though, said the idea is unworkable.
“It truly is not by any means to be taken as a given that the Fed would do it, and I think especially with something that’s a gimmick,” she said during an interview with the Wall Street Journal.
“The Fed is not required to accept it, there’s no requirement on the part of the Fed. It’s up to them what to do,” she added.
While the idea has its proponents, many detractors have highlighted the risks of using an obscure law to side-step Congress.
Maya MacGuineas, president of the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, recently told the Washington Examiner that the Treasury minting a platinum coin doesn’t sit right with her. “It feels like the kind of thing that a joke government would be doing,” she said.
Yellen has also pushed back on the idea of debt prioritization — that is, paying some bills while allowing others to go unpaid. Prioritization by the Treasury has been contemplated before during other debt limit showdowns but has always been rejected as unworkable.
Yellen warned that any form of prioritization would certainly lead to economic calamity and a recession.
“Failure on the part of the United States to meet any obligation — whether its debt holders, to members of our military or to Social Security recipients — is effectively a default,” she said on Friday.
Despite Yellen’s resistance, Republicans have privately been crafting a payment prioritization plan if Congress doesn’t agree to raise the debt ceiling, the Washington Post reported. House Republicans could call for the Treasury to make payments to other high-priority obligations such as Medicare, the military, Social Security, and benefits for veterans — although hundreds of other government programs would languish and such a move would undoubtedly roil markets.
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The U.S. has never defaulted on its obligations in the history of these fiscal showdowns. Republicans see the deadline as an opportunity to exact concessions from the Biden administration and Democrats.
Yellen has previously said the measures would be sufficient to carry the U.S. through early June, setting up a rough and uncertain deadline for the congressional battle.