CEOs at White House warn of adverse effects of shutdown, debt ceiling

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Major business leaders including Goldman Sachs Chief Executive Lloyd Blankfein who met with President Barack Obama on Wednesday warned of dire consequences if lawmakers fail to raise the U.S. debt ceiling and prevent a government shutdown from lasting a long time. Blankfein, speaking to reporters after the meeting, said the chief executives represented different political views but all agreed the consequences of decisions made about the shutdown and the debt ceiling were serious for the financial world. Business leaders wanted Washington to understand "the long-term consequences of a shutdown - we're already in the short-term consequences of a shutdown - but certainly the consequences of a debt ceiling (not being raised), and we all agree that those are extremely adverse," he said. (Reporting by Jeff Mason and Mark Felsenthal; Editing by Sandra Maler)