With shutdown negotiations at a standstill, Trump administration reportedly doubles estimate for its cost

(Image credit: Mandel Ngan / Getty Images)

published 15 January 2019

The Trump administration reportedly has a grim new estimate of the partial government shutdown's economic toll.

CNBC reports the Trump administration has doubled its estimate of how costly the ongoing shutdown will be. Previously, the administration thought there would be a reduction of 0.1 percentage point in economic growth every two weeks that the government is shut down. But now, the administration believes that much will be reduced every week.

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It's certainly not hard to believe the shutdown will indeed last that long, with negotiations at a standstill and with President Trump dialing back his threat to declare a national emergency. In fact, Trump has warned that he's willing to keep the government shut down for months if he doesn't get the border wall funding he wants, which one economist warns could result in GDP actually declining in 2019's first quarter, per Business Insider. This economist also warned that even if the shutdown only lasts until the end of January, "the hit to growth will be material."

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Brendan worked as a culture writer at The Week from 2018 to 2023, covering the entertainment industry, including film reviews, television recaps, awards season, the box office, major movie franchises and Hollywood gossip. He has written about film and television for outlets including Bloody Disgusting, Showbiz Cheat Sheet, Heavy and The Celebrity Cafe.

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