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Ask HN: Could the U.S. government stop risking shutdown?

3 points by keming ↗ HN
It’s amazing to me how many times I read news in the U.S. where government shutdown comes into play as a possibility. Is there not some other option that would allow the existing budget to continue without having to approve it each time if they can’t come to agreement?

3 comments

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PaulHoule
Probably the worst problem is

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_debt_ceiling

which is an ordinary law which Congress could repeal but doesn't. It's not as bad of a problem as

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_balanced_budget_amendme...

given that Germany needs to increase defense spending and modernize it's energy economy... And will have a hard time doing it with the political coalition they have.

drweevil
The biggest problem for Germany is being in the eurozone, no matter who is in power. A sovereign currency issuer, like the US, UK, Japan, etc. doesn’t have the same constraints as a country that does not control its own currency. Which is why the US debt ceiling is a bogus, self-imposed limitation.