Editor, Gazette-Journal:

The Oct. 24 editorial, "What have we gained?" wrongfully commingles too many institutions and their roles to assert noteworthy losses from the 16-day "shutdown" involving only non-essential services less the planned theatrics.

It is not correct that the U.S. standing in the world has dropped. The United States still has the greatest ability at capital formation. The New York Mercantile Exchange, with their London cousins, set petroleum prices. America’s grain trade—includes some non-grains—is the world’s food powerhouse. U.S. companies own the world’s largest merchant marine fleet in tonnage. Although foreign-flagged, the world knows where the accounts receivable are deposited.

The shutdown was both an alert and a warning. Organizations like the IMF and the rating agencies … offering opinions and not investment advice … are nominal compared to the 16-day message sent to the U.S. domestic welfare state and the ...