Economists at JPMorgan Chase believe the U.S. economy will continue to grow at a similar rate in 2013 as it did in 2012, according to the bank’s annual economic forecast (PDF). But things would be looking a lot better, they say, if it weren’t for steps Congress has already taken, and will continue to take in the coming weeks, which they predict will add “significant restraint to the economy’s growth outlook for 2013.”Congress set up all of these economic hurdles, and has already locked in a significant amount of austerity this year. But coming debates over spending cuts in the sequester and the need to raise the debt limit continue to cast a shadow of uncertainty over an economy that should be growing quite a bit more rapidly than it is right now.
This is a companion discussion topic for the original entry at https://talkingpointsmemo.com/?p=92865