The US government has been in partial shutdown since December 22 as Republicans and Democrats quarrel over funding for Trump’s southern border wall. To date, there are few signs the deadlock will end anytime soon, putting the shutdown on track to become the longest on record, should it move beyond January 12. As Bank of America Merrill Lynch’s (BAML) US economics team note, not only does the shutdown pose a risk of slowing the economy down the longer it runs, but it will also create increased uncertainty over what exactly is going on within the economy. Here’s a snippet from the bank explaining why: (full story)