Donald Trump, as usual, is wrecking something he puts his hands on….
His holding everyone captive for a border , that he won’t get, may pull the National and the world economy down….
The chairman of President Donald Trump’s Council of Economic Advisers said Wednesday the United States could post no economic growth in the first quarter if the federal government does not reopen.
“If [the shutdown] extended for the whole quarter, and given the fact that the first quarter tends to be low because of residual seasonality, then you could end up with a number very close to zero in the first quarter,” Kevin Hassett told CNN.
Asked whether GDP growth could hit zero in the quarter, Hassett said “Yes, we could.”
“But then again, the second-quarter number would be humongous if the government reopened. It would be like 4 or 5 percent,” Hassett said.
In recent decades, GDP growth in the first quarter has been notably weaker than growth in other quarters.
The federal government shutdown was in its 33rd day Wednesday, with little sign of relief for the roughly 800,000 federal workers going without pay. The Senate on Thursday is holding votes on competing GOP and Democratic proposals that would fund the government through Feb. 8. Neither measure is expected to pass because of the parties’ standoff over President Donald Trump’s demand for $5.7 billion for a wall along the Mexican border…..
No way could 1st quarter Gross Domestic Product fall to zero (imagine what that would mean); however, the growth in GDP from the 4th quarter of 2018 could fall to zero.
Hasset was dancing…
But it appears he DID say zero?
The quote….
“If [the shutdown] extended for the whole quarter, and given the fact that the first quarter tends to be low because of residual seasonality, then you could end up with a number very close to zero in the first quarter,” Kevin Hassett told CNN. When asked if GDP growth could be zero in the current quarter, he replied: “Yes, we could.”….
Yes, James, but your headline misses the all-important word growth.
It’s incredibly hard to imagine that 1st quarter GDP could be zero; that would mean that 330 million people in America were producing a net of ZERO goods and NO services for three months straight. We’d all have starved to death in the cold by then, with no one (police, fire, medical) helping. No stores will have sold anything.
Zero growth means that the net total of goods and services has not increased (i.e., grown) at all from last quarter.
[If you really don’t understand the difference between zero GDP and zero GDP growth, then you (who probably have a far greater command of the calculus than do I) have fallen into Trumpian levels of comprehension.]
Thanks for the lesson DSD……
Hasset’s statment in answer to the his question is actually factually incorrect?
He IS only talking about the first quarter…NOT the countries ENTIRE GDP….
The country continues to produce things…
I didn’t write that…
But even I KNOW that IS a given….