The sequester starts Friday. Then what?
‘Slow motion train wreck’ to begin; eyes on end-March deal
WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — Barring a last-minute deal, the sequester begins Friday.But there’s little need to panic. The $85 billion in across-the-board spending cuts slated for 2013 won’t all take effect on Friday if Congress can’t reach a deal to replace them, which looks increasingly to be the case. Instead, the cuts — split between defense and domestic programs — go into place gradually.
“On March 1, no lights will be turned off, no doors will be closed,” says analyst Loren Adler of the Bipartisan Policy Center, a Washington think tank. “The sequester will feel like a slow-motion train wreck. Different people and programs will be hit at different times,” he said an email.
To be sure, Wall Street analysts and others warn about the effects of the sequester over the long term — the Bipartisan Policy Center estimates that it would reduce 2013 gross domestic product by half a percentage point and cost the U.S. economy about one million jobs over the next two years. Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke also used congressional testimony this week to urge lawmakers to defuse the sequester fight. http://www.marketwatch.com/story/the-sequeste...beforebell
