ANALYSIS: Behind the Debt Ceiling Negotiations—Who Has the Upper Hand?

(L–R) President Joe Biden, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), and Irish Taoiseach Leo Varadkar attend the annual Friends of Ireland luncheon on St. Patrick's Day at the U.S. Capitol in Washington on March 17, 2023. Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images

News Analysis

Alexander Hamilton, the 32-year-old wunderkind serving as secretary of the Treasury, proposed a bold plan to the first U.S. Congress on Jan. 9, 1790. The federal government should assume the wartime debts of the 13 states, about $25 million worth, and retire them with funds borrowed at a lower rate of interest, then pay the debt with tax revenue, Hamilton asserted.