It’s estimated that Friday, the partial government shutdown will exceed the $5.7 billion request for a border barrier to the existing 720 miles.
The chief US economist for S&P Global estimates that every week of the shutdown would shave about $1.2 billion off the US's gross domestic product.
The overall cost to the economy is different from the border wall cost, which is a direct taxpayer expenditure.
The Federal Budget Policy Director at the Heritage Foundation, Romina Boccia, said the longer this drags on, the more it will cost.
Impacts include:
- While contractors factor this cost for the short-term, when dealing with the government, but too long and they'll have to lay off employees because they can’t meet payroll,
- Dampening of tourism dollars to national parks,
- Securities and Exchange Commission cannot approve private sector businesses and companies waiting to go public,
- Other problems: air traffic control, airlines trying to start new routes or get new planes approved.
"Commercial air traffic shouldn't be affected by a federal government shutdown.There's no reason for that. If only those services weren't handled by the federal government when they could easily be handled in the private sector," said Boccia.
She said the Transportation Security Administration could be privatized like in Canada and Europe and it costs them 15 percent less per passenger.
Boccia said this partial government shutdown is an opportunity for taxpayers and legislators to take a close look at the functions that the federal government has usurped from states, localities and private sectors.
"There are so many functions that are impacted by this government shutdown that shouldn't be impacted because they shouldn't be handled by the federal government to begin with," said Boccia.
She said ultimately this has nothing to do with money, just the political disagreement between the president and Democrats over the need for border security.
“There have been 18 budget stalemates since 1974 that forced at least partial government closures (under presidents Ford, Carter, Reagan, Bush Sr, Clinton and Obama). The 16-day day shutdown in 2013 cost the federal government $2.5 billion in lost productivity, slowed GDP growth, and lowered consumer and investor confidence, according to the Congressional Research Service.”