A government shutdown would cost the U.S. economy $6.5 billion a week, S&P says
Source: Washington Post
A government shutdown would cost the U.S. economy $6.5 billion a week, S&P says
By Jeff Stein December 7 at 10:37 AM
America could lose billions of dollars in economic activity if the federal government shuts down this December, a new report says.
On Wednesday, S&P Global analysts said a shutdown would cost the economy about $6.5 billion per week, or about 0.2 percent of gross domestic product growth in the fourth quarter of 2017, as the impact of furloughing federal employees ripples across the country.
If a shutdown were to take place so far into the quarter, fourth-quarter GDP would not have time to bounce back, which could shake investors and consumers and, as a result, possibly snuff out any economic momentum, the report says. The timing could not be worse.
Lawmakers have until the end of Friday to reach an agreement to avert the shutdown. The House is slated to vote Thursday on a short-term deal to keep the government open while a longer spending agreement is negotiated, but the risk of shutdown looms.
-snip-
Read more:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2017/12/07/a-government-shutdown-would-cost-the-u-s-economy-6-5-billion-a-week-sp-says/