The result was not just autocratic rule at home but also periodic defaults on the royal debt, astronomical interest rates for government borrowing and ultimately civil war. The debt limit is nothing more than an authorization from Congress to borrow a certain amount, up to a certain limit. Nonetheless, President Biden’s advisers reportedly are contemplating violating the congressional debt limit based on a far-fetched interpretation of Section 4 of the 14th Amendment propounded by some academics. It does not make it unconstitutional for the United States to run out of money. For the United States to fail to pay interest or principal on its debt would be financially catastrophic, but it would not affect the “validity” of the debt.

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