The clock ticks on the debt limit: Lessons from America's last debt ceiling crisis

Published May 10, 2023 at 6:00 AM EDT

Detail of the National Debt Clock, a billboard-size digital display showing the increasing US debt, on Sixth Avenue August 1, 2011 in New York. US Vice President Joe Biden said Monday he was confident that Congress would approve a major austerity plan to avoid a debt default as he met with skeptical members of his Democratic Party.AFP PHOTO/Stan HONDA (Photo credit should read STAN HONDA/AFP/Getty Images)

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The U.S. debt limit clock is ticking.

A political stand-off in Washington on the U.S. debt limit is pushing the country perilously close to default.

In 2011, the country came within 72 hours of that happening.

Today, On Point: What’s the path forward? We hear lessons from America’s last debt ceiling crisis.

Guests

Claudia Grisales, congressional correspondent for NPR.

Jason Furman, Aetna professor of the practice of economic policy at the Harvard Kennedy School. Spent eight years as a top economic advisor to President Barack Obama, including as deputy director of the National Economic Council during the 2011 debt ceiling negotiations.

Rohit Kumar, principal and co-leader of PwC’s National Tax Services practice. Former Domestic Policy Director and Deputy Chief of Staff for Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell.

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Laurence Tribe, Carl M. Loeb University Professor Emeritus at Harvard Law School.

This article was originally published on WBUR.org.