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Brief history of US debt limits before 1939

Author

Listed:
  • George J. Hall

    (Department of Economics, Brandeis University, Waltham, MA 02453)

  • Thomas J. Sargent

    (Department of Economics, New York University, New York, NY 10003; Hoover Institution, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305)

Abstract

Between 1776 and 1920, the US Congress designed more than 200 distinct securities and stated the maximum amount of each that the Treasury could sell. Between 1917 and 1939, Congress gradually delegated all decisions about designing US debt instruments to the Treasury. In 1939, Congress began imposing a limit on the par value of total federal debt outstanding. By summing Congressional borrowing authorizations outstanding each year for each bond, we construct a time series of implied federal debt limits before 1939.

Suggested Citation

  • George J. Hall & Thomas J. Sargent, 2018. "Brief history of US debt limits before 1939," Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, vol. 115(12), pages 2942-2945, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:nas:journl:v:115:y:2018:p:2942-2945
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    Cited by:

    1. Daniel Murphy & Eric Young, 2020. "Government Debt Limits and Stabilization Policy," Working Papers 20-23, Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland.

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