[Alberta's Child]

There's a reason why you rarely ever heard any discussions about the debt ceiling until the last decade or so. Until the QE, QE2, etc. fiscal policies of the last two administrations, interest rates on U.S. bonds effectively served as a "debt ceiling" that forced our government to either operate in a fiscally responsible manner or pay the price for fiscal responsibility through higher interest rates.

As the U.S. faces its inevitable decline as a world power, our ability to set artificially low interest rates for our own debt will disappear. At some point, nobody with an IQ over 40 is going to buy a U.S. Treasury note unless it pays an exorbitant interest rate.

[Alberta's Child]

... or pay the price for fiscal responsibility through higher interest rates.

Sorry about that ... it's supposed to be "fiscal IRRESPONSIBILITY."

[brianr10]

This elimination of the ceiling may signal the markets to demand for higher interest rates on US debt.