Republican Debt Crises Have Killed 900,000 Jobs: Study

According to the right-wing Peterson Foundation anyways:

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For the past few years, the Republican approach to governance has been to cause a series of Breaking-Bad-like cliffhangers, with ever-more destructive consequences. It has gotten so ridiculous that even the Peter G. Peterson Foundation, one of the tireless deficit scolds encouraging Republican behavior, has finally gotten tired of it. This government-by-crisis approach has cost the U.S. economy about 900,000 jobs and raised the unemployment rate by about 0.6 percent, according to a studyby private forecasting firm Macroeconomic Advisers, commissioned by the Peterson Foundation, of all things. Peterson continues to wax apocalyptic about America's long-term debt, but appears to finally have gotten disgusted with Republican tactics in dealing with it. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/1...tml?ref=topbar

More:

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Fiscal Policy Uncertainty: Since late 2009, fiscal policy uncertainty has raised the Baa corporate bond spread by 38 basis points, lowered GDP growth by 0.3 percentage points per year, and raised the unemployment rate in 2013 by 0.6 percentage points, equivalent to 900,000 lost jobs. (Page 8) Government Shutdown: A 2-week partial government shutdown would directly trim about 0.3 percentage points from 4th-quarter growth. (Page 8) The Debt Ceiling: The paper considers two scenarios. The first assumes a brief, technical default that is quickly resolved, and the second assumes an extended, two-month stalemate. (Page 9) 1. In scenario one, risk aversion rises, financing costs rise, prices of risk assets fall, and the economy enters a recession. Exacerbated by the Fed’s inability to lower short-term interest rates, growth only begins to rebound at end of 2014 and the unemployment rate rises to a peak of 8.5% before starting to decline. At its peak, 2.5 million jobs would be lost. (Page 10) 2. Scenario two implies a longer and deeper recession than in the first scenario, but one characterized by extreme volatility. Annualized GDP growth fluctuates rapidly between plus and minus 8% until the oscillations diminish in 2015. Unemployment rises to a peak of 8.9% — equivalent to 3.1 million lost jobs — before trending down. (Page 13) Discretionary Spending: Reductions in discretionary spending have reduced annual GDP growth by 0.7 percentage points since 2010 and raised the unemployment rate 0.8 percentage points, representing a cost of 1.2 million jobs. (Page 4) http://pgpf.org/press/2013/10/New-St....lT0bysjr.dpuf

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