The 'fiscal cliff' – the $607 billion in tax and spending provisions set to expire at the end of the year – is fast approaching.

And this is expected to impose fiscal restraint and hurt GDP growth.

Current consensus of economists polled by Bloomberg is for 2 percent 1.9 percent growth in the first quarter of 2013, and 2.3 percent growth in the second quarter.

But if Congress fails to act this could slow to 1 percent in the first half of the year. And real GDP is projected to fall to -2.2 percent in the first quarter, and -1.3 percent in the second quarter.

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This is likely to cause higher unemployment, declining tax revenue and a mild recession in early 2013.

In fact, the 'fiscal cliff' has already caused firms to cut back on investments and hiring, and has prompted consumers to save more adding to the slow economic recovery. But addressing these policy choices now is critical to the long-term health of the U.S. economy.

We drew on Bloomberg BRIEF Economics' new special 'fiscal cliff' report to breakdown the components of the fiscal cliff.

The charts show how the tax cuts and spending changes are expected to impact the U.S. economic outlook, carefully examining the policy uncertainty that has investors concerned.