News/Commentary

Economists tout $1T platinum coin to solve massive $31T debt, Yellen calls it a ‘gimmick’

February 3, 2023 | | Print Article

Economists are resurrecting the idea of a $1 trillion platinum coin as we approach the debt ceiling in an effort to keep money flowing, but Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, in a rare moment of sanity, threw cold water on the idea.

As it stands, the country will run out of funds to pay its bills in June if the debt ceiling is not raised. The nation is $31 trillion in debt and it just keeps getting worse. Many contend that raising the debt ceiling will not stop a crash at some point as the government just keeps printing money and our leaders seem intent on not cutting spending. It is likely that a digital currency will eventually be introduced to solve the problem and wipe out the debt with Americans bearing the consequences of that move.

Some leftist economists, who probably should take an economics refresher course, believe that minting a $1 trillion platinum coin which can then be deposited at the US Federal Reserve would solve the problem, according to the Daily Mail. These same financial brain trusts have floated that idea during every debt crisis since 2011 in an attempt to do a workaround for politicians who bicker over the debt ceiling.

As we print more and more money, the dollar loses more value and will eventually become worthless. That does not seem to have been factored into constantly raising the debt ceiling. We can’t keep digitizing dollars and spending into infinity without it eventually bringing down the house of cards.

Despite the facts of the issue, there are those still pushing the $1 trillion platinum coin solution. They believe that the president has the authority, under a 1990s law, to order the Mint to make commemorative coins of any value in platinum. Instead of the usual $5 or $10 coins, they want him to approve a $1 trillion coin.

By law, the Treasury is limited on how much paper cash and gold, silver, or copper coins can circulate at any given time. Platinum money is not restricted by those limits. But the bone of contention comes into play when actually depositing the coin in the Federal Reserve.

“It truly is not by any means to be taken as a given that the Fed would do it, and I think especially with something that’s a gimmick,” Yellen told The Wall Street Journal while aboard an Air Force plane on the way to Lusaka, Zambia, according to Daily Mail. “The Fed is not required to accept it, there’s no requirement on the part of the Fed. It’s up to them what to do.”

The Fed could agree to the coin, which is highly unlikely

“It could, however, say yes and allow the federal government to add $1 trillion to its coffers ready for spending,” writes Rob Crilly for Daily Mail. “Wouldn’t this spell economic chaos? Everyone knows that trying to print money to spend your way out of crisis, by adding a trillion dollars to the economy without a matching increase in production, triggers runaway inflation.”

“Economists since David Hume have known that helicopter-money drops — which are permanent additions to the balance sheet — are highly inflationary,” Jon Hartley and Jackson Mejia, of the Foundation for Research on Equal Opportunity, wrote in the National Review. “A trillion-dollar helicopter drop, which would equal about five percent of the M2 money supply, would be one of the largest in American history.”

New York Times columnist Paul Krugman naturally supports the whacky idea. He thinks there are ways to constrain the supply of money to control inflation. Many believe he is dead wrong on the issue.

“It’s true that the Fed would have to release funds if Treasury drew on a coin-backed account, but this wouldn’t have to increase the monetary base; it could be offset by selling Fed-held securities,” he wrote on Twitter, airing what many saw as flawed economic reasoning.

“In effect, the government, broadly defined as Treasury + Fed, would be doing exactly the same borrowing as before — except that the Fed rather than Treasury would be selling securities to the private sector. Zero inflation impact,” he contended.

Others claim that the Fed could just deposit the coin at the Treasury, wiping $1 trillion off the debt. But, critics note, economics doesn’t work that way. For every monetary action, there is a commiserate reaction.

“But it all creates another issue, with the muddling of monetary and fiscal policy,” Crilly explained in Daily Mail. “The former is related to decisions about money in the economy, which are taken by the Federal Reserve. While the latter is concerned with how the government spends its money, which is a political process in Congress and the White House.”

Yellen contends that if Biden uses monetary policy to create the coin and solve a fiscal problem it “compromises the independence of the Fed.” Which, in turn, means it can be swayed by political pressures.

Any way you slice it, the $1 trillion platinum coin is not the answer here and many contend it is a bad idea. Cutting spending is the answer.

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Terresa Monroe-Hamilton
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