It would ensure that there would be in place an orderly procedure for preventing default on the national debt and Social Security if the government reaches the debt ceiling and is precluded from borrowing more money for a while.

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Most important, by changing international law, politicians would send a strong signal that they were serious about creating a procedure to deal with default.

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They argue that a generous international bankruptcy procedure would worsen the problems of moral hazard, as default became an easy option.

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