https://policymaker.net/tags/default-risk/ Recent content in default risk on Policymaker.net Hugo -- gohugo.io en-us Fri, 03 Apr 2026 00:00:00 +0000 https://policymaker.net/2026/04/03/debt-ceiling-self-inflicted-market-risk-2026/ Fri, 03 Apr 2026 00:00:00 +0000 https://policymaker.net/2026/04/03/debt-ceiling-self-inflicted-market-risk-2026/ The debt limit is, in strict operational terms, a fiction. Congress authorizes spending through the appropriations process. It authorizes revenue through the tax code. The debt that results from the gap between those two is mathematically determined. The debt limit then arrives as a third act — a separate legislative mechanism that can block Treasury from issuing the securities needed to pay obligations Congress has already created. It does not constrain spending.