Seriously, Media Cannot Find Cost to Closure Beyond Parks
I wrote earlier that the only downside the AP could find with the looming shutdown were National Park closures. I am not exaggerating. It is the only thing they have. Here is the CNN site about 45 minutes before midnight. I added the red arrow
As I wrote earlier, the only other function the 800,000 to-be-furloughed government employees seem to have is drawing a paycheck. Clicking on the article above the parks article entitled "multibillion$$ hit", we find absolutely no hint that these employees do anything of economic value or that their lost work will hurt the economy. The only thing that they apparently usefully do is spend tax money
A government shutdown could cost the still-struggling U.S. economy roughly $1 billion a week in pay lost by furloughed federal workers. And that's only the tip of the iceberg....
The total economic impact is likely to be at least 10 times greater than the simple calculation of wages lost by federal workers, said Brian Kessler, economist with Moody's Analytics. His firm estimates that a three to four week shutdown will cost the economy about $55 billion.
Really? There is a 10x Keynesian multiplier on these people's paychecks? I would sure love to see what kinds of stuff they spend money on because I have never heard of a number that absurdly high.
What else can they think of to worry about beyond these lost paychecks? Only one other specific is mentioned in the article. Get ready for it -- the national parks will close!
Many federal contractors will also have to cut back on staffing if they don't get the business they normally do from the government. There's also a large variety of businesses that depend on the government to conduct their normal operations -- tourism businessesthat depend on national parks staying open, for example.
So there you have it. The government shutdown does two things: It closes the national parks and lays off 800,000 people who apparently do no valuable work (other than keep parks open!) but who have the highest Keynesian multipliers on their spending of any individuals in the nation.
