With all the talk on the left of monetizing the debt with a platinum coin, apparently no one bothered to look at the law to see if it were actually legal. It’s not. It turns out that the platinum coin provision only allows for two categories of coin (bullion coins and proof coins), neither of which can be used for seigniorage. (Via Volokh.)
The Treasury Department has confirmed this in its belated statement on the matter:
Neither the Treasury Department nor the Federal Reserve believes that the law can or should be used to facilitate the production of platinum coins for the purpose of avoiding an increase in the debt limit.
(Via Hot Air.)
If Paul Krugman’s Democrats want to monetize the debt, they’re going to have to get the Federal Reserve to play ball.
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