Their view: If McCarthy doesn’t want to defend the global economy, Biden and Yellen must | editorial

Fast forward to this fall. Americans are pondering Halloween costumes or how their kids will fare in the new school year, but another pressing and widespread concern rages on the nation’s minds: the collapsing global economy, spinning with no sign of slowing, is leading to heavy labor losses and dwindling savings and investments. Countries around the world have been hit by economic catastrophe and are reconsidering the dollar as a reserve currency.

The culprit isn’t another virus or a natural disaster, and in fact the whole thing could have been avoided with a few pieces of legislation pushed through by a leader with spine. Instead, the mess now lies at the feet of House Speaker Kevin McCarthy and the gang of extremists he prostrated to in his search for the gavel. Faced with the loss of power, McCarthy has blocked the House from raising the debt ceiling and allowed the US to pay off its debt.

In fact, we don’t have to wait months to feel the effects of this dangerous game. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has already informed Congress that the government will hit its debt ceiling this week, and while it won’t run out of funds to meet its obligations until sometime in June, that delay may already be sending shockwaves through the international economic system.

Whatever legacy McCarthy thinks he can cement as an orator, it will be a footnote to the headline that he stood aside when the economy was being gunned down by a handful of zealots. If he doesn’t, someone else has to, and that can be Yellen herself, under the direction of President Biden.

The crazy idea of ​​minting a $1 trillion or similar platinum coin and depositing it in Treasury Department accounts — a legally bulletproof idea according to several scholars — is often unceremoniously dismissed as a little crazy. But sometimes the best solution to a stupid problem is a stupid solution, and it sets a far better precedent than questioning the nation’s creditworthiness.

Editors of the New York Daily News — New York Daily News. Copyright 2023 Tribune Content Agency.

Copyright 2023 Tribune Content Agency.