Editor’s note: We asked Terry L. Clower, director of the Center for Regional Analysis and a professor of public policy at George Mason University, how a potential federal government shutdown could impact the economy. Here are his thoughts, open to all readers.
If the shutdown lasts through the weekend, the impact will not be noticeable, except to those who may have a contracted job working in a federal building. Federal employees have always received back pay once a shutdown ends. Contractors providing services, ranging anywhere from cleaning the floors to advanced cyber security, get no such guarantee. While it will not register in regional or national economic data, even a weekend shutdown means that an individual who has a job mopping the floors in a federal building this weekend will lose at least part of a paycheck at Christmastime.
If the shutdown continues beyond the weekend, there will be delays in some services and the public will be inconvenienced — a factor driven by…
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