Honeywell's Cote pans government shutdown
This Blog's on Fire (And Other Stuff)
By Tess Nacelewicz
Updated Wed October 2, 2013
News reports lead with stories about how the U.S. government shutdown this week is sabotaging people's vacation plans at national parks. But Honeywell Chairman and CEO David Cote is concerned about how a long shutdown could have even greater negative repercussions on businesses and our economy.
According to an article this week from MoneyNews, Cote is among a number of CEOs of major corporations to worry the shutdown could harm the economic rebound both at home and abroad.
Here's some of what Cote had to say, according to that article:
“Everyone will get more conservative and pull back on hiring and investing,” Cote, who served on Obama's bipartisan National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform, said in an interview with Bloomberg Television's Trish Regan.
Even if the budget fight is resolved, lawmakers would immediately move to the next dispute over raising the $16.7 trillion debt ceiling.
It also would be a “horrible idea” to block a boost in the federal debt ceiling, as some lawmakers vow to do, Cote said. “When you hear people starting to think that maybe we should default or not raise the debt ceiling and we will play chicken with it, are you actually serious?”
Of course, Honeywell is a huge, diversified company. But if the fears of Cote—recently named “CEO of the Year”—come true and we go back into recession again, smaller security companies also could be impacted in a negative way.
Let's hope this all gets resolved soon.
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