Trillion Dollar Coin Idea for US Debt

A trillion dollar coin could be created by the US Minister of Finance and deposited into the account of the US Central Bank to repay an equivalent share of US debt. In full impasse on the debt ceiling, the idea, considered far-fetched, is evoked by elected officials and on social networks.

The thing is possible, according to the texts. The idea, which ignites social media, is touted as the solution to the recurring psychodrama of the US debt ceiling that is currently tearing the US Congress apart.

Born in 2011 in the mind of an anonymous lawyer in the state of Georgia, the idea resurfaces with every political crisis, like the one currently taking place in Washington, between Republicans and Democrats, one or the other. party blocking the raising of the debt ceiling, necessary for the US government to meet its commitments.

His supporters suggest using a law passed in 1997 that, in theory, allows the Secretary of the Treasury to strike a coin of any denomination he chooses, in platinum.

The Minister of Finance, presumably on the instructions of the  US President, could thus create a trillion dollar coin, which would then be deposited into the account of the American Central Bank (Fed) to repay an equivalent share of the debt of the United States.

The government would thus find itself well below the debt ceiling and would once again have the necessary leeway, without having to seek authorization from Congress, which it normally must do.

A theoretical construction is rejected by many economists.

Deemed fanciful by the majority, even legally impossible to implement in practice, the concept nevertheless gained ground, to the point that in 2013, the US Treasury took the trouble to say that it would not strike this coin.

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