On Saturday’s Up w/ Chris Hayes, we’ll discuss the origins and merits of a novel proposal making its a way around the Beltway: the trillion-dollar coin. Serious observers — from Nobel laureate Paul Krugman to former U.S. Mint director Philip Diehl — are calling on the federal government to use its authority under a little-known statute to mint a platinum coin worth $1 trillion and deposit it into the Treasury Department’s bank account, as a way of eluding a brewing fight with Congressional Republicans over the federal debt limit. We’ll examine the provenance of the idea and discuss what it says about our political and monetary systems.
Plus: We’ll review the contested legacy of Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, the man who helped mastermind the financial bailout and has irrevocably shaped financial and economic policy in America for years to come. And we’ll try something new and exciting on the show: A discussion with four of the most fascinating and eminent contemporary fiction writers on milestone speeches in American politics and the role political rhetoric plays in shaping American life.
Joining Chris at 8 AM ET on msnbc will be:
George Saunders, author of “Tenth of December.”
Michael Chabon, author of “Telegraph Avenue” and Pulitzer Prize-winner.
Victor LaValle, author of “The Devil in Silver” and Assistant Professor and Acting Fiction Director at Columbia University School of the Arts.
Ayana Mathis, author of “The Twelve Tribes of Hattie.”
Dylan Glenn, Managing Director of Guggenheim Partners.
Alexis Goldstein, Former Vice President at Merrill Lynch and Deutsche Bank (in Information Technology) and current member of Occupy Wall Street.
Stephanie Kelton, Associate Professor of Economics at the University of Missouri-Kansas City and Creator and Editor of New Economic Perspectives.
Joe Weisenthal, Deputy Editor at Business Insider.
Heidi Moore, Economics and Finance Editor at The Guardian Newspaper.
Neil Barofsky, Former Special Inspector General in charge of oversight of TARP (Troubled Assets Relief Program).
Sal Gentile