Public Debt Acts
In the United States, Public Debt Acts are Acts of Congress which set the debt ceiling on the National debt of the United States.
United States
The United States Public Debt Act of 1939 eliminated separate limits on different types of debt.[1]
The Public Debt Act of 1941 raised the aggregate debt limit on all obligations to $65 billion, and consolidated nearly all federal borrowing under the U.S. Treasury and eliminated the tax-exemption of interest and profit on government debt.[2]
Subsequent Public Debt Acts amended the aggregate debt limit: the 1942, 1943, 1944, and 1945 acts raised the limit to $125 billion, $210 billion, $260 billion, and $300 billion respectively.[1]
In 1946, the Public Debt Act was amended to reduce the debt limit to $275 billion.[1] The limit stayed unchanged until 1954, the Korean War being financed through taxation.[3]
References
- McCaffery, Edward J. "Major Acts of Congress: Public Debt Acts". E-Notes.
- USLegal
- CRS Report for Congress