I've identified 10 economic issues facing the United States that I would like to talk about. Each of these issues reduce economic growth. I would be curious to know what everyone thinks about these issues.
1. Tourism - Typically, the US generates ~2 trillion in revenue from tourism per year. Overall, tourism is down around 13% this year. However, tourism from some countries are seeing a sharper drop. For example, Canadian tourism to the US is down around 30%. So far, this is expected to shrink the US economy by ~$200 billion. Additionally, seven commercial airplanes have crashed since Trump took office. Domestic and international travel is down.
2. Boycotts - People from other countries are boycotting US products due to their discontentment with the US. This discontent seems to be due to two factors. First, the US is transitioning from a constitutional republic to a totalitarian oligarchy. This is unpopular domestically and abroad. Second, tariffs have impacted foreign economies. For example, German auto workers are being laid off because their cars aren't being sold in the US as much. Canada has seem rising unemployment partially due to the tariffs too. Other countries will be impacted too. Ultimately, I don't know how much boycotting by foreigners will impact the US economy, but it is happening.
3. Debt (government, consumer, student) - US treasuries are being sold by foreign countries. This means that the US government must provide a greater return for US treasuries to entice foreign investment. This will reduce government spending because the government will be forced to spend more to repay it's debt.
Consumer debt is extremely high too. Consumers owe ~$1.6 trillion on their cars, and ~1.2 trillion on their credit cards. When consumers repay this debt, they are not expanding the economy. Instead, it's just a drain on the economy.
The White House has indicated that ~5 million student loans barrowers will have their wages garnished to repay their student loan debt. The Internet told me the average monthly payment for a student loan is $536/month. I think that seems high. I only pay $192/month. Still, these are barrowers who are unable to repay their student loans. All of their money is going to necessities or servicing debt. Now, they'll have less money to expand the economy.
4. Economic uncertainty - US tariff policy has been changing on a daily basis. Investors favor economies that are stable politically and economically. It's impossible to make long-term plans when policy can change on a daily basis. It's no wonder that corporation have been expanding into foreign economies when it's impossible to make a long-term plan due to policy changes. I don't have any numbers on how this could impact the economy, but it should be a drag. US consumers have been more conservative with their spending too amid recession fears.
5. Immigration - There are 47.8 million immigrants in the US. That's around 1/7 of the population. ~11 million are undocumented immigrants. ~750 are forcibly removed per day. However, immigrants are voluntarily fleeing the US due to negative sentiment about immigrants and dangers posed by the administration. It's unclear how many are leaving, but there have been worker shortages in meat packing and agriculture which are largely run by undocumented immigrants. Undocumented immigrants payed almost $100 billion in federal taxes last year with around a 8% effective tax rate. That means that they expanded the economy by over a trillion dollars.
Documented immigrants produce more for the economy than undocumented immigrants. Being able to immigrate to another country implies that a person has enough money to do so or that they have a valuable skill. ICE has been removing documented immigrants from the country too. These are people that typically produce more for the economy than the average citizen. Removing members from this group or discouraging others from immigrating to the US is a massive drain on the economy.
6. Federal worker firings - Somewhere between 120,000 and 250,000 federal workers have been fired by DOGE. These workers are largely now entering the private sector.
7. Transportation sector firings - UPS has fired 20,000 truck drivers. Also, imports have dropped ~1/3. There are around 85,000 longshoremen in the US. They may need to fire 20,000-30,000 in the near future.
8. Social security - Social security benefits have not been cut, but it's become harder to receive benefits due to DOGE. Many offices have closed. Phone lines have been cut. And, the social security website has gone down several times. Many seniors and disabled people have been missing their checks and have had little recourse to receive their benefits again. Also, social security will not pay for missed months. If a check is missed for a month, then the individual just needs to try and figure out how to get their check next month. Social security pays ~67 million people each ~$2,000/month (depending on several factors). A missed payment means that a family may need to cut their spending which shrinks the economy.
9. Political instability - Everything I've already mentioned is in the realm of politics. The other items I've listed are political, but I imagine I'll get the most push back for this item. The US is undergoing a coup. The administration has disobeyed a SCOTUS order to facilitate the return of Kilmar Abrego Garcias. So far, the White House has refused this order. Constitutional amendments, the right to due process, and birthright citizenship have all entered the sphere of what is considered political. Under the constitution of the US, none of these items are in question. However, the administration is attacking these items and more.
Coups can be very bad for business. Protests have been enormous. There's talk of having a general strike. Politically motivated violence is increasing. This directs resources away from expanding the economy.
10. Tariffs - A lot can be said about the tariffs. I've mentioned them a few times already. Imports have dropped by around a third. This is likely to be an inflationary pressure on the economy. People may not be able to find the items they want. It's bad bad bad. Real bad. Bad bad.
To be fair, there are some impacts on the economy that increase the value of stocks. For example, de-dollarization means that US goods are cheaper abroad. The dollar has already lost ~15% of its value since the Trump administration. This encourages foreign investment because it's easier for foreigners to get dollars to buy US treasuries or stocks. I may be inclined to make another post about impacts that are expected to increase the value of stocks.
What do you all think?