A US shutdown would cause global tremors

THE United States government is just hours away from its first partial shutdown in 17 years after the weekend passed with lawmakers failing to reach a compromise on a formula to extend federal spending authority.

The impasse is proving a difficult one to break. House Republicans want to delay US President Barack Obama's landmark healthcare restructuring laws for a year and make other changes to the health laws. The president and the Democrats, meanwhile, have promised not to let that happen.

The consequences for failing to agree will invariably hit Americans hard. As things stand, if lawmakers blow the Monday midnight deadline in Washington (Tuesday noon, Singapore time), as many as 800,000 federal workers will be forced off their jobs without pay. Crucially, though, essential services such as border patrols, meat inspectors and air traffic control will continue, as well as Social Security and Medicare bene…