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The ratings agency said more than two-week long government shutdown has cost the economy $24 billion — or $1.5 billion per day — reducing S&P’s September forecast of 3 percent annualized fourth-quarter 2013 GDP growth and shaving off 0.6 percent, according to a press release.

While S&P recognizes Congress will resolve the political gridlock and pass a deal to raise the debt ceiling, it warns that the impact is causing more harm as we approach Thursday’s deadline. S&P also added that the impact of a government default would be more disastrous than the collapse of Lehman Brothers in 2008, forcing the economy back into a recession.

[Business Insider]