Would we be better off with a default?
It's going to happen eventually, and the longer we put it off, the worse it will be.
There is no chance of default. Do you mean would we be better off not raising the debt limit at all?
If so then the answer is yes.
Still I’m happy to go along with the compromise bill passed by the House: Cut,cap&balance.
Too bad Boehner sabotaged it.
There would be no default. “Default” in the financially relevant sense would be failing to pay amounts owed our lenders.
For political purposes (i.e. to frighten the uniformed), the meaning of “default” has been distorted to mean that prior appropriations to spend money on cowboy poetry, ethanol subsidies, Planned Parenthood, Obamacare, government housing, Michele’s travels, etc. would not be funded. A failure to do the things that would be defunded wouldn’t be noticed by most people, especially those “pulling the wagon”. Welfare recipients, however, would get less than they are accustomed to. Sharpton and the rest would probably have a hissy fit and organize demonstrations and semi-riots. Bear in mind, though, the welfare state will end sooner or later, and it is much less damaging if it is sooner.