I still don't understand.  I mean, I look at it as everyone above iwll get their money. So even steven.  So how is it a "loss" or costing that much extra due to the shutdown.  If anything, the government "saved" money for a month.

When I see a headline like " the shutdown cost X billions", that's the normal spending for that time. It's not like it cost X billions on top of what would have been spent normally.

The loss is in terms of economic growth.  Recessions are defined as two consecutive quarters of negative growth in gross domestic product (GDP). While growth is not negative from the shutdown, it's lower than expected prior to the shutdown.

The shutdown is estimated to reduce GDP growth by about 1.5 percentage points in the fourth quarter of 2025, with a total economic loss of approximately $11 billion expected to be permanent. Most of the lost economic activity will be recovered once the government reopens, but some impacts, like canceled flights and missed restaurant meals, will not be made up.

So, while the purchase of goods can be shifted to a later month/quarter and be viewed as a wash, service industries and businesses that that rely on constant income from customers will never be able to go back in time and realize that revenue.  Hypothetically, are you going to spend twice as much on gasoline in the next quarter to make up for not commuting to work for a month and a half?  Are you going to pay your yard service for not showing up for 4 or 6 weeks?

Yes, some of the spending will be shifted to a different month or quarter, and it will be an accounting wash,  But much of that money will go to pay down credit cards people needed to live on for  that timeframe or to repay banks that floated their mortgage payments until they got paid.  That's money that was already spent.  Paying a debt incurred in the past isn't counted as "spending" for this month.  That money was spent last month -- borrowed money. 

The loss is in terms of economic growth.  Recessions are defined as two consecutive quarters of negative growth in gross domestic product (GDP). While growth is not negative from the shutdown, it's lower than expected prior to the shutdown.

The shutdown is estimated to reduce GDP growth by about 1.5 percentage points in the fourth quarter of 2025, with a total economic loss of approximately $11 billion expected to be permanent. Most of the lost economic activity will be recovered once the government reopens, but some impacts, like canceled flights and missed restaurant meals, will not be made up.

So, while the purchase of goods can be shifted to a later month/quarter and be viewed as a wash, service industries and businesses that that rely on constant income from customers will never be able to go back in time and realize that revenue.  Hypothetically, are you going to spend twice as much on gasoline in the next quarter to make up for not commuting to work for a month and a half?  Are you going to pay your yard service for not showing up for 4 or 6 weeks?

Yes, some of the spending will be shifted to a different month or quarter, and it will be an accounting wash,  But much of that money will go to pay down credit cards people needed to live on for  that timeframe or to repay banks that floated their mortgage payments until they got paid.  That's money that was already spent.  Paying a debt incurred in the past isn't counted as "spending" for this month.  That money was spent last month -- borrowed money.

I understand now.  Thanks.

If a government shuts down and tanks the economy then you don't really have an economy.

It's a money printing machine pretending to be an economy, and sooner or later the people who depend on it are going to be in serious trouble.

9 out of 10 government workers serve no purpose other than necessitating a communist redistribution of wealth. It's a jobs program for mostly useless people.

I understand now.  Thanks.

When the government stops spending, GDP contacts, simply because government spending is counted as part of GDP - a huge part of GDP …



Just fyi

Whenever the government spend money it actually destroys wealth and productivity

https://www.heritage.org/budget-and-spending/commentary/the-costly-truth-about-government-spending