Trump's nightmare economy

First published in the Brunswick Beacon, 11.20.25

As a teenager, I drove a Corvair, made infamous by Ralph Nader’s book, “Unsafe at Any Speed.” Gas cost 36 cents/gallon.

After 1973’s Arab-Israeli War, Arab countries embargoed oil, quadrupling its price. That caused gas rationing, stagnant growth, inflation and unemployment: the nightmare scenario called “stagflation,” which is even harder to fix than a recession. Thanks to Trump, stagflation is back.

Inflation has soared 25% since Trump imposed tariffs on 185 countries in April, triggering a global stock market crash. Trump chickened out and suspended some tariffs, but the on-again/off-again uncertainty led businesses to cut 33,000 jobs in June, 3,000 in August and 32,000 in September, according to payroll processor ADP. Unemployment surged to 4.3% as 263,000 people filed for unemployment benefits: both are four-year highs. The Wall Street Journal called it, “The Dumbest Trade War in History.”

Trump’s mass deportations made things worse. Crops are rotting in fields because farmers lost the migrant workers who pick them. That drove food prices higher and consumer confidence to near historic lows.

Trump’s policies made the economy shrink for the first time since the pandemic. “Stagflation is getting stronger,” said Harvard economics professor Jason Furman. “There are no good options for the Fed given the set of circumstances we’re facing.”

The Fed (Federal Reserve Bank) works the economy’s gas and brakes. When employment slows, it cuts interest rates to speed up the economy. When inflation surges, it raises rates to slow it down. Stagflation is the nightmare scenario because the Fed can’t do both: it can’t goose employment without also goosing prices. It cut rates twice, in September and October, risking higher inflation. Chairman Powell said there’s “no risk-free path,” because unemployment is rising while tariffs are making inflation worse.

Trump took Biden’s economy, which the Wall Street Journal called “the envy of the world,” and drove it into a ditch. He traded a Cadillac for a Corvair that’s unsafe at any speed.

Vince Amoroso

Sunset Beach