U.S. government shuts down again because House Democrats refuse to spend $5 billion on the border wall.

Amy Hamilton

2019-01-19 12:38:00 Sat ET

U.S. government shuts down again because House Democrats refuse to spend $5 billion on the border wall that would give President Trump great victory on his best-known policy. No other OECD democracy has such abrupt government shutdowns. Should the current U.S. government shutdown be about policy differences, House Democrats would try to achieve a compromise deal with the Trump administration.

Nevertheless, this congressional standoff is about presidential authority. President Trump must win this fight; otherwise, he would allow House Democrats to constrain his presidential power. A key concern is that President Trump may use his national emergency power to build the southern border wall. In this worse-case scenario, the eventual degradation of good government may continue.

In reality, the current U.S. government shutdown happens not because America is in turmoil: the country is not at war; the economy operates near full employment; and even Fed Chair Jerome Powell praises the robust economic outlook with low inflation and high productivity growth. The current government shutdown happens because President Trump needs to fulfill one of the most controversial campaign promises that his fervent followers favor. When the U.S. government reopens, both Congress and the Trump administration can revisit the comprehensive issues of border security and immigration reform without having to inflict financial pain on public employees in the specific form of furlough or work without pay.

 


If any of our AYA Analytica financial health memos (FHM), blog posts, ebooks, newsletters, and notifications etc, or any other form of online content curation, involves potential copyright concerns, please feel free to contact us at service@ayafintech.network so that we can remove relevant content in response to any such request within a reasonable time frame.

Blog+More

With majority control, House Democrats pass 2 bills to reopen the U.S. government without funding the Trump border wall.

John Fourier

2019-01-12 10:33:00 Saturday ET

With majority control, House Democrats pass 2 bills to reopen the U.S. government without funding the Trump border wall.

With majority control, House Democrats pass 2 bills to reopen the U.S. government without funding the Trump border wall. President Trump makes a surprise Wh

+See More

President Trump poses new threats to Fed Chair monetary policy independence again.

Apple Boston

2025-06-20 08:27:00 Friday ET

President Trump poses new threats to Fed Chair monetary policy independence again.

President Trump poses new threats to Fed Chair monetary policy independence again. We describe, discuss, and delve into the mainstream reasons, conc

+See More

Climate change and ESG woke capitalism

Dan Rochefort

2022-11-30 09:26:00 Wednesday ET

Climate change and ESG woke capitalism

Climate change and ESG woke capitalism In recent times, the Biden administration has signed into law a $375 billion program to better balance the economi

+See More

The financial services industry needs fewer banks worldwide.

Daphne Basel

2022-08-30 10:32:00 Tuesday ET

The financial services industry needs fewer banks worldwide.

The financial services industry needs fewer banks worldwide. As long as banks have existed in human history, their managers have realized how not all dep

+See More

The Trump administration weighs the pros and cons of a potential mega merger between AT&T and Time Warner.

Laura Hermes

2018-05-08 13:39:00 Tuesday ET

The Trump administration weighs the pros and cons of a potential mega merger between AT&T and Time Warner.

The Trump administration weighs the pros and cons of a potential mega merger between AT&T and Time Warner. Recent stock prices show favorable trends for

+See More

Precautionary-motive and agency reasons for corporate cash management

Monica McNeil

2022-10-05 08:24:00 Wednesday ET

Precautionary-motive and agency reasons for corporate cash management

Precautionary-motive and agency reasons for corporate cash management Bates, Kahle, and Stulz (JF 2009) empirically find that public firms have doubled t

+See More