Economic Confidence Plummeting During GOP-led Shutdown
WASHINGTON (CBSMiami) – As Republicans continue to hold the U.S. government and economy hostage to achieve policy goals; consumer confidence in the U.S. is dropping at a rate not seen since Lehman Brothers collapsed in 2008.
In Gallup's latest economic confidence poll, the numbers tumbled to -34 last week. That was a collapse of 12 points and came as the government shut down for the first time in 17 years.
For comparison purposes, Gallup's largest drop came during the week of September 15-21, 2008 when Lehman Brothers filed for bankruptcy and the Great Recession was truly underway.
Overall, since the middle of September when Republicans began to push for a full government shut down and possible debt default, the economic confidence index has declined by 19 points. The ECI has fluctuated from between -65 in the final months of the Bush Administration to -3 earlier this year.
The last time the debt limit was held hostage by Congressional Republicans, consumer confidence also dropped. However, unlike market drops, consumer confidence quickly bounced back in a few months.
