Economics
Government Shutdown Non-Event for U.S. Economy That Has Moved On
- Consumers, companies numbed by constant political brinkmanship
- Fourth-quarter growth may be temporarily cut by tenth or two
A child stands on a barricade around the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, in October 2013.
Photographer: Jewel Samad/AFP via Getty ImagesThis article is for subscribers only.
For all the political hand-wringing, a U.S. government shutdown on Oct. 1 would barely nick the world’s largest economy.
The partisan debate over the nation’s finances has heated up with almost clockwork regularity, going back to the debt-ceiling fight in 2011 that led to the first-ever downgrade of Treasury debt. Such familiarity breeds contempt as yet another temporary closing of federal agencies will have a muted effect on gross domestic product, payrolls and consumer confidence.