Recent reporting from the Wall Street Journal revealed that the president was willing to cause significant economic pain for millions of families, but backed off over fears he’d create a “depression.” Groundwork Collaborative Executive Director Lindsay Owens published a new op-ed in Rolling Stone on how a recession would be devastating to working-class families and more harmful than the 2008 and COVID pandemic recessions:
“After the housing crash in 2008, millions of families lost their jobs and their homes […] But a Trump-manufactured recession could be all that and worse. First, families usually get some relief on prices during a recession, as demand lags. But it is quite possible we could see sustained high prices, and even shortages, throughout a recession because of his tariffs. This toxic combination — higher unemployment, lower growth, and higher inflation — is called “stagflation,” and it makes the Federal Reserve’s job to manage interest rates and fight the downturn even more difficult…
“Meanwhile, because Elon Musk has spent the last three months kneecapping the administrative state with his so-called Department of Government Efficiency, Americans who lose their jobs or see reductions in income will have a harder time accessing the crucial safety net programs that they can usually rely on when times are tough. Because of cuts to the Social Security Administration, Health and Human Services, the United States Department of Agriculture, and more, families who need health coverage, food assistance, and Social Security checks are already facing delays. This backlog will only grow as need increases during a recession.”
Email press@groundworkcollaborative.org to speak with Lindsay Owens about President Trump’s economic mismanagement.
KEY EXCERPTS
“Recently, we learned that President Donald Trump was perfectly happy to send the American economy into a recession with his trade war — just not a depression. Let that sink in for a moment. The president knew his proposed tariffs might land us in the intensive care unit, but he didn’t want us actually dead.
“If Trump were on trial for murdering our economy, this would be like his lawyer arguing to the judge that he should be tried for second-degree murder, rather than first degree. ‘Your honor, we concede that the President absolutely planned to beat the living daylights out of us. But he never meant to kill us. I swear.’
“Since Trump’s so-called “Liberation Day” announcement on April 2, we’ve learned a lot about whom the president is willing to sacrifice and for what. He was perfectly happy to wipe out our retirement accounts overnight. He had no problem raising prices on everything from gas to groceries to clothing to baby strollers and car seats. The fact he was willing to lead the country into a recession means he also had no particular hesitation about adding millions of Americans to the ranks of the unemployed either.”
“While recessions typically increase inequality, this one could be even more unequal than usual. Working class Americans will bear the disproportionate brunt of the price hikes and job losses, while the wealthiest Americans are poised to benefit from trillions in dollars worth of tax breaks that Republicans in Congress are working to extend later this year.”
“Trump may be the first president in history to deliberately put the United States economy into a recession. Once that happens, it would be difficult for even a skilled manager of the economy to ensure that the economic devastation doesn’t cut too deep. Recessions can take on a life of their own, spiralling downward more quickly than you expect — and as he’s showing us, Trump is not a skilled manager of the economy.”