Andrew here. The government is now shut down. That means furloughs, potential firings — and most likely no important economic data like the jobs numbers that the government was scheduled to release on Friday. We dive into all of the implications and how this fight could play out.
And President Trump is now planning a new website where Americans will be able to buy drugs directly from manufacturers at discounted rates. What’s it being called? TrumpRx. (We’re still not sure if that’s a placeholder, a joke or the actual name.) More below.
The shutdown lowdown
The federal government shut down hours ago. Judging by the markets on Wednesday, the impasse could be costly.
Usually, the stock and bond markets hold up fine during such funding crises. But there’s been widespread selling on Wednesday, with the dollar and S&P 500 futures falling as investors brace for a lengthy disruption. The price of gold hit a record, while the yields on 10-year and 30-year Treasury notes and bonds rose. (Bond yields go up when prices drop.)
The status quo: Republicans and Democrats remain far apart. The Trump administration has signaled that it will seek drastic layoffs of federal workers, continuing cost-cutting efforts favored by President Trump and his budget director, Russell Vought.
“The last thing we want to do is shut it down, but a lot of good can come down from shutdowns,” Trump said on Tuesday. “We can get rid of a lot of things that we didn’t want.” (Some trivia: There have been eight shutdowns since 1990; Trump has now presided over four.)
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