The 2019 Government Shutdown: How It Stacks Up, and What It Really Costs

Unpaid government workers are just the tip of the economic iceberg
Chart shows duration of government shutdowns
Chart shows duration of government shutdowns

From a 30,000-foot vantage, a government shutdown doesn’t cost much. S&P Global estimates that the border-wall impasse—the longest in history, unresolved at press time—shaved only $3.6 billion off the U.S. economy over its first three weeks. But other barometers, including rising airport delays and a screeching halt in IPOs, remind us how much our commerce depends on a well-functioning state. And a recent tumble in consumer confidence points to the ripple effects of an erosion of faith in a system that routinely stops public servants from serving the public. That’s a cost that could become incalculably high.

A version of this article appears in the February 2019 issue of Fortune magazine with the headline, “Closing Costs.”

 

SOURCES: CONGRESSIONAL RESEARCH SERVICE; NEWS REPORTS
NOTE: Dates shown here are the calendar year in which each shutdown started.

About the Authors