Contents: (1) Introduction: The Debt Limit and the Treasury; Why Have a Debt Limit?; (2) A Brief History of the Federal Debt Limit: Origins of the Federal Debt Limit; World War II and After; (3) The Debt Ceiling in the Last Decade: The Debt Limit Issue in 2002: Resolving the Debt Limit Issue in 2002; The Debt Limit Issue in 2003; The Debt Limit Issue in 2004; The Debt Limit Issue in 2005, 2006, and 2007; The Economic Slowdown and Federal Debt; Fiscal Policy Considerations; Raising the Debt Ceiling in 2008 and 2009; Revised Deficit Estimates; (4) Concluding Comments; (5) Further Reading. Charts and tables.

This report discusses how the total debt of the federal government can increase, a historical overview of debt limits, and how the current economic slowdown has led to higher deficits and thereby a series of debt limit increases, as well as legislation related to these increases.