While federal workers scrambled to pay bills during the October 2023 government shutdown, something curious happened on Wall Street. Defense contractors saw their stock prices rise. Federal IT companies reported steady revenue streams. And private security firms landed lucrative “emergency” contracts to fill gaps left by furloughed government employees.
Welcome to the dirty secret of modern government shutdowns: they’ve become a wealth transfer mechanism from working families to corporate boardrooms, wrapped in the rhetoric of fiscal responsibility.
View More How Government Shutdowns Became Corporate Welfare in Disguise