Slashdot Mirror
Shutdown Cost the US Economy $24 Billion
Hugh Pickens DOT Com writes "Time Magazine reports that according to an estimate from Standard & Poor's, the government shutdown, which ended with a deal late Wednesday night after 16 days, took $24 billion out of the U.S. economy and reduced projected fourth-quarter GDP growth from 3 percent to 2.4 percent. The breakdown includes about $3.1 billion in lost government services, $152 million per day in lost travel spending, $76 million per day lost because of National Parks being shut down, and $217 million per day in lost federal and contractor wages in the Washington D.C. metropolitan area alone. Hundreds of thousands of federal workers bore the economic brunt of the shutdown but small businesses also suffered from frozen government contracts and stalled business loans. With the deal only guaranteeing government funding through January 15, the situation could grow worse. 'This is a real corrosion on the economy,' says Mark Zandi, chief economist for Moody's Analytics. 'If we have to go down a similar road in the near future, the costs are going to continue to add up.'"
Yes, because both sides are always equal in culability. Just some random examples off the top of my head: Mugger/Muggee, Murder/Murdered, Rapist, Rape Victim. Yulp, definitely a LOT of blame to go around....
The Democrats decided what was and was not essential. They are the ones who decided to shut down small businesses that had anything to do with national parks, even if they were self sustaining.
If two weeks of shutdown can cause that much economic damage, then it's pretty obvious government is way too large and lots of things need to be pushed back to the states - which were already starting to fund national parks, for example.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
$17 trillion in debt....
Nothing else, even a shutdown or default is undermining the dollar worse than running $1+ trillion deficits.
And if we don't stop, the government shutdown will eventually become PERMANENT. How much will that cost the economy folks.
Oh, and might I add, that the Democrats are punks because all they do is kick the bucket down past the next election.