Uncertainty about the upcoming fiscal cliff is already starting to slow some business activity.

The fiscal cliff refers to the combination of massive spending cuts and higher taxes that will commence Jan. 1 unless Congress acts.

Uncertainty about the cliff has caused a number of companies to put some of their activity on hold.

Editor's Note: The Final Turning Predicted for America. See Proof.

"It's a pause button," Robert Swanson, executive chairman of semiconductor maker Linear Technology, said earlier this month after the company announced a 3 percent decline in its latest quarterly profit, The Wall Street Journal reports.

Paul Coghlan, the firm’s CFO, says it corporate customers are turning hesitant on purchases as Dec. 31 approaches.

Telecom titans AT&T and Verizon say their customers are wary too, according to The Journal. And retailers are worried about the holiday season, as consumers who are about to face tax increases might not be so eager to spend this year.

CEOs from more than 80 major companies signed a letter last week urging Congress and the president to implement a milder version of spending cuts and tax increases to avoid the cliff.

General Electric CEO Jeff Immelt was one of the signers. “This is a complete and important distraction at a time when the country doesn’t need it,” he told CNBC. “I don’t get why we can’t do something this important.”

If the government is able to come up with a solution, fear of the cliff would likely have affected the economy more than the cliff itself.

Editor's Note: The Final Turning Predicted for America. See Proof.