After the recent shutdown of the United States government, the US Commerce Secretary Penny Pritzker has warned that prolonging the federal shutdown will start having a greater effect on business not just in the United States, but around the world. Her comments came at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) as leaders gathered to voice their own concerns about the situation. Just last Friday, one of the world’s largest defence contractors, Lockheed Martin, announced that it would put 3,000 workers on unpaid leave, with the number scheduled to rise if the shutdown continued.. Lockheed Martin employs over 123,000 people worldwide and over 70% of their revenues come from military sales. Lockheed Martin’s announcement came just days after United Technology, which makes Blackhawk helicopters, laid off 2,000 workers as production was halted because there were no government inspections on finished products. As one of the largest economies in the world, the shutdown of the United States government could have a drastic impact on the world economy. After the financial crisis of 2008, the world economy is still recovering from the hit and is not in a position to withstand a lengthy shutdown of one of the world’s largest and most influential economies.