Opinion: Devastating costs of government shutdown
Marick F. Masters, professor of business, wrote an op-ed about the fallout from the government shutdown. “Although the country finally gets a three-week break from its longest government shutdown, an increasing number of Americans had felt some of the pain immediately inflicted on the 800,000 federal employees, 420,000 of whom were working without pay. The funding gap forced many governmental offices to close, delayed important services, idled federal contractors and their employees, and inconveniences many who awaited approvals for loans, patents, tariff exceptions, and civil litigation. The shutdown cost billions in disrupted economic activity and expensive make-shift arrangements made to adjust to massive furloughs. But the real costs are much deeper and corrosive.” Masters notes that lost wages of furloughed employees reduce consumer spending, which is a key driver of economic activity; literally thousands of routine government operations are interrupted, delaying important transactions which await government approval; slowdowns in food inspections, environmental regulation enforcement and the provision of health care put many at risk, threatening public health and safety; and there is a further erosion in the already low level of confidence in government and democratic institutions.