Due to the U.S. government shutdown, about 700,000 federal workers are sent home on unpaid leave. National parks are closed. Also, the Small Business Administration is not working.
Based on my research, there are two views about this shutdown. First, at a microeconomic view, small businesses are hit hard. The government’s shutdown will delay payments to small businesses that have ties or contracts with the government. Small businesses will have to manage their cash flow, and they have to think about where else they can get loans since the Small Business Administration is not working. Thus, accounting departments of small businesses have to figure out how to maintain cash flow and how to cut spending in order to survive through the hard time. Second, at a macroeconomic view, this shutdown will have negative impacts on the U.S. economy as a whole. National parks and museums are shut down, which disappoints international tourists. The amount of international tourists will decrease. Also, federal workers are uncertain about their future in the U.S., so people are going to spend less. The U.S. economy will be hit hard.
I wish that the shutdown will end as soon as possible for the sake of the stability of the world economy and the U.S. economy.
Sources:
- http://www.forbes.com/sites/meghancasserly/2013/10/02/government-shutdown-small-business-good-bad-and-uninformed/
- http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/economy/shutdown-to-slowdown-how-washingtons-mess-is-hurting-business/article14712510/
- http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-24343698
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