I’ve been following the debt ceiling debate intermittently. But the more I think about it the less persuasive I find the rankly political claims — now echoed by Bernanke, which I think is unfortunate — that failure to vote for the debt ceiling hike will scare world markets. We already know that failure to lift the ceiling is not the same thing as defaulting, despite what many Democrats have said or insinuated. But beyond that, it just seems to me that if I held an enormous amount of a country’s or a person’s debt, I would be relieved to find out that the borrower has decided to get its or his house in order. Our debt is only worth something if the world thinks we’re serious about paying it off. How else do you send that message than to get serious?

Update: Just in case I was unclear, I am for raising the debt limit eventually. I just see nothing wrong with attaching debt and spending reduction conditions to it.