Unless Congress gets its act together soon—today—it looks like we’re headed into a black hole of economic uncertainty. The two crunch dates on the horizon: tomorrow, October 1, when a potential shutdown of the federal government begins if the enlightened pols in Washington don’t come to an agreement on the budget real quick. But that’s small potatoes compared with October 17, when the government may slide into a technical default if Congress doesn’t raise the budget ceiling and agree to finance the spending bills that have already been debated and enacted. No one’s really sure what all this means if one or both of these self-inflicted financial traumas come to pass. But you don’t have to be a genius to recognize that the potential for trouble will rise the longer these risks are allowed to fester. Welcome to the increasingly bizarre new world of dysfunctional democracy in these United States.
Daily Archives: September 30, 2013
ISM Manufacturing Index: September 2013 Preview
The ISM Manufacturing Index is expected to increase to 56.2 in tomorrow’s September update (scheduled for release on October 1), based on The Capital Spectator’s average econometric forecast. The estimate reflects a slight rise from the previously reported 55.7 for August. Meanwhile, the Capital Spectator’s average projection is moderately higher than three consensus forecasts for September via surveys of economists. In fact, these surveys anticipate that today’s ISM number will decline vs. the previous month, in contrast with The Capital Spectator’s projection for a small increase.