Many Economists Say the Debt Ceiling Battle Had No Notable Impact on the U.S. Economy

That was the missing sentence in a Washington Post article on the battle over the debt ceiling. The article referred to the 2011 battle that brought the country within days of hitting the legal limit on borrowing. It told readers:

"Many economists say that episode led to uncertainty that harmed the economy."

It's hard to find evidence for this assertion in the data. The economy grew at a 2.3 percent annual rate in the second and third quarters of 2011, the period most immediately affected by...