Government shutdown and shrinking foreign estimation of America

Published: Oct. 23, 2013, 4:09 a.m.

For 17 days, the federal government went into shutdown, getting dangerously close to defaulting on its debts and potentially jolting the entire world economy. International visitors to the nation’s capital were greeted by closed parks and museums, and responses from around the world ranged from amused to annoyance to anger at the political games played...