The Greater Lawlessness of the Republican Party

 Popular Economics Weekly

Jonathan Ernst / Reuters

I wrote this blog piece in 2017 to understand the first election of Donald Trump and document the record of the Republican Party’s subservience to power and greed.

Trump didn’t make the party to suit him, the party chose him because he suited the party that wanted someone capable of a greater lawlessness to maintain power.

We knew as far back as Nixon’s Watergate that the Republican party harbors a lawless tendency when it suits them. Why else would President Reagan engineer the illicit Iran contra arms deal with Khomeini, or President GW Bush invade Iraq when UN inspectors already knew Saddam Hussein had destroyed his weapons of mass destruction a decade earlier?

The lawlessness of Republicans’ hunger for power has now reached such a point that they have selected and continue to support a president who has lied and cheated his whole adult life; from Trump Casinos to Trump Towers, from stiffing bankers and his workers to cooking the books. This has been documented in many of the 3,500 plus lawsuits Trump has been involved in, and the reason he settled the Trump University lawsuits, one of which alleged he ran a fraudulent enterprise under RICO, the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act.

The sins of Hillary or Bill pale, yet Republicans impeached Bill for lying about a sexual encounter and continue to hound Hillary over lost emails. So why have they chosen Donald Trump who hasn’t divested himself of his assets to avoid conflicts of interest and continues to profit and even solicit favors from foreign governments in direct violation of the constitution?

His current 34 percent Gallup popularity rating is testimony that his support is now only restricted to those that would support him, even if, “I could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody, and I wouldn’t lose any voters,” said at a January 2016 Iowa campaign rally.

And now we have President Trump condoning the lawlessness of his neo-nazi and white nationalist supporters holding a torchlight parade in Charlottesville, Virginia, Jefferson’s hometown.

CNN commentator David Gergen, advisor to four presidents, chastised Trump yesterday in commenting on the Charlottesville riot and death of a counter-demonstrator. “He said he wants to bring love, not hatred to the country,” Gergen said. “Good. We need to deal with hatred, but he needs to deal with the hatred in his own heart if he wants to bring more love to the country.”

When will the Republican Party stand up to such blatant lawlessness? Only when they can deal with the lawlessness in their own hearts. In selecting an autocrat to further their agenda, they are in effect saying freedom means anarchy, a condoning the Law of the Jungle, rather than living within a democracy of laws based on the world’s first constitution that guarantees equal rights for all citizens.

Harlan Green © 2026

Follow Harlan Green on Twitter: https://x.com/HGreen97180/

Trump Also Losing the Inflation War

Popular Economics Weekly

“Real gross domestic product (GDP) increased at an annual rate of 3.4 percent in the third quarter of 2026 (July, August, and September), according to the advance estimate released today by the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA). In the second quarter, real GDP increased 2.2 percent”.

BEA.gov

The sudden boost in GDP growth makes it obvious that President Trump is losing the war on inflation which he promised to win on Day One, as well as Iran. And because he can’t admit he lost, he will prolong both wars—though he can’t win either one.

The boost in the preliminary estimate of third quarter real economic growth was predicted with the $trillions being spent on AI. But it also boosted inflation.

The inflation measure formally known as the personal consumption expenditures index. climbed to 3.6% from 3.4% in the prior month, pushing inflation further away from the Fed’s 2% target.

And the Fed has elected not to raise interest rates until when, December? Big mistake, in my opinion. It will be after the midterm election when Trump has already announced he wants to continue to bomb Iran, thus creating even more energy shortages.

He directly challenged the Fed to act and they blinked, deciding not to raise their rates in October with a 10-2 decision.

And Trump is now trumpeting how much richer he and his fossil fuel buddies have become over the higher energy prices! And he’s now taunting them because of it.

Why didn’t the Fed begin the inflation fight sooner, before the war creates even more energy shortages and drives consumer prices higher, which will further exhaust consumers’ personal savings as well?

The above graph shows consumer spending and investments are still driving GDP growth while imports and exports are contracting. But how much longer can consumers continue to support such growth and avoid the inevitable; a recession?

So instead of TACO Trump, it’s now the FACO Fed (FED Always Chickens Out) that didn’t challenge Trump’s inflationary moves, which tells investors and consumers once again that it is Trump and his compliant Republicans that are almost solely responsible for the higher gas and diesel prices that are crushing households’ standard of living.

The PCE report also says that Disposable Personal Income (i.e., after taxes) is up just 0.2 percent while personal expenditure rose 0.5 percent in October. Consumers are now spending twice what they earn.

This is at the same time as the draconian cuts in social services kick in from Trump’s Big Beautiful tax cut bill that will take effect after the midterms.

Former Labor Secretary Robert Reich has been adding up the damage to ordinary consumers. Food Stamp assistance is being cut by $187B; $1.1B from Medicaid and Obamacare spending; that is knocking some 11 million off the Obamacare insurance rolls.

And those cuts are being used to fund an additional $191Billion for ICE operations. Something must give. A whopping 64 percent of disposable income is now being spent on gasoline, other energy products and transportation, while just 18 percent is left for housing and utilities.

So there is no question what this means. It’s happening while corporations are making a cynical bet that their investments in AI will enable them to replace employees with more efficient, less costly bots and artificial intelligence software.

Nobel laureate economist Daron Acemoglu has said in an interview with Fareed Zakaria that much of A.I. corporate investment is designed to replace people.

So I ask again, why is the Fed not acting sooner to slow inflation when the higher tariffs and Iran war behind the inflation surge have no end in sight?

Economists now agree the Fed acted too late in 2022 after the COVID-19 pandemic, which resulted in a 9 percent inflation peak. Would not it have been better to raise their main inflation fighter, interest rates, sooner, to maintain credibility?

So, I repeat, will we ever see a Fed 2% inflation target rate again and the FACO Fed give consumers some relief before it’s too late?

Harlan Green © 2026

Follow Harlan Green on Twitter: https://x.com/HGreen97180/

 

Does the Fed Love Inflation?

 Popular Economics Weekly

“The Committee decided to maintain the target range for the federal funds rate at 3-3/4 to 4 percent, in support of the Federal Reserve's dual mandate. The Committee is continuing its policy of maintaining ample reserves in the banking system.” FOMC

FREDfedfunds

 

The Fed’s October Federal Open Market Committee meeting resulted in no change in its Fed Funds rate of 3.75-4.0%.

Why are they holding their rate when the higher tariffs and Iran war behind the inflation surge have no end in sight? Wouldn’t it have been better to raise interest rates, their main inflation fighter now, to maintain credibility?

They may have to love inflation for the moment because there is little chance of taming it when they can’t control rising prices from the tariffs and Iran war energy shortages driving it.

Or, they may be more concerned the U.S. economy is on a short fuse from President Trump’s irrational policies that are damaging economic growth. Why raise tariffs on Canadian steel, aluminum, lumber and electricity, our main trading partner so important to American businesses, for instance?

The Fed’s key may be “they are “maintaining ample reserves,” to do what?  lower their rates later and pump more money into the economy because of the danger of recession?

The FOMC is saying likes our current economy and wants to keep it growing:

“While uncertainty remains elevated owing, in part, to geopolitical developments, domestic spending has been resilient. Productivity growth is strong, and capital investment is robust. Job gains have kept pace with the workforce, and the unemployment rate has changed little”

So don’t rock the boat just yet? Maybe, but if we allow higher interestrates and inflation to continue it becomes embedded, which means it affects future growth decisions of industries and consumers (slower).

And wartime spending is going through the roof, as is the A.I. investment frenzy, which is raising our federal government’s annual interest payments above $1trillion. How much more can we afford?

 And, will we ever see a Fed 2% inflation target rate again?

Harlan Green © 2026

Follow Harlan Green on Twitter: https://x.com/HGreen97180/

Economic Growth Continues

Financial FAQs

“The Conference Board Leading Economic Index® (LEI) for the US was unchanged in September 2026 at 99.6 (2016=100), after a decline of 0.1% in August. The LEI grew by 0.6% between March and September 2026, a reversal from its decline of 1.1% over the previous six months (September 2025 to March 2026).”

LEI

The Conference Board’s Index of Leading Economic Indicators (LEI) does a decent job of predicting future economic growth and recessions. So, we can use it to learn just how much recent economic events, such as President Trump’s illegal tariffs and gulf wars are affecting future growth in President Trump’s second term.

The above LEI graph is an overlay of its growth rate predictions (blue line) 6-months ahead overlaying the length of actual recessions (gray bars). That means its various dips portrayed in the graph seem to have predicted a downturn one year ahead of the last recessions.

The red line below which a recession was called had one exception—there was no recession in the 2022 to 2024 dip before the latest positive upturn.

Why the positive upturn that is predicting higher growth ahead? The A.I. data center construction is generating so much investment (approx. $800B) by the ‘Big 7’ tech companies and banks—such as Apple, Meta, Alpha (Google)—that it has boosted the stock market to record levels.

It’s also boosted interest rates and shaken the bond markets, who are worried that it is crowding out other more mundane investment that keep our government running. And several IPOs are in line, such as Anthropic which believes it can raise up to $1Trillion in its upcoming IPO.

So, economic growth has been a mixed bag until now. The growth slump in 2024 happened when Trump enacted his first tariffs and another One Big Beautiful Bill tax cut bill that added more $Trillions to the national debt.

“Five out of ten components made positive contributions to the LEI in September, led by the interest rate spread and average weekly hours in manufacturing. Nevertheless, these gains were offset by a large decline in consumer expectations and much smaller negative contributions from stock prices, new orders for capital goods and building permits.”

The huge surge in A.I. investment is giving a boost to economic growth this year. But what happens when all the data centers have been built out sometime next year? When will use of the new ChatGPTs, Claude software generate enough profits to pay for the record debt that underpins its construction and the huge amount of power required to run it?

The good news is that it’s a huge plus for upgrading our energy infrastructure that requires new electrical networks to run it as well.

But we do have examples of past over-investment bubbles that burst and caused recessions, such as the dot-com bubble of 2000 when there was a huge buildout in fiber optic cables that opened the Internet to everyone.

Then GDP growth stalled in 2001, a recession followed and growth didn’t turn positive until 2003, which lasted until the 2008-09 Great Recession.

So the LEI red line may not reflect recessions as accurately as we would like. But we are dealing with an administration that glories in its ignorance of the most basic economic verities in its quest to prolong the latest Gilded Age of robber barons as long as possible.

 A recession might not occur in the next 12 months, of course. What if the Strait of Hormuz is opened and Trump makes a deal with Iran? Or he settles the tariff trade war? Or, the Federal Reserve succeeds in taming inflation?

Harlan Green © 2026

Follow Harlan Green on Twitter: https://twitter.com/HarlanGreen

 

A Brutal Inflation Report

Financial FAQs

“The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) increased 0.6 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis in September after rising 0.4 percent in August, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Over the last 12 months, the all items index increased 3.7 percent before seasonal.” BLS.gov

FREDcpi

The misjudgments and ignorance of our wanne-be dictator who likes wars is coming home to roost. Consumers are being hit with the second-largest monthly inflation spike since Trump began to bomb Iran (see graph), which makes it inevitable that there will be more interest rate hikes by the Federal Reserve.

This is largely because of the shortage of oil and energy supplies as Iran has been knocking out Middle East oil wells and refineries while closing the Strait.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported the gasoline index rose 9.1 percent in September, accounting for over half of the monthly all items increase. The energy index increased 5.2 percent over the month following a 2.1-percent increase in August.

But it hasn’t yet stopped consumers from shopping. Advance estimates of U.S. retail and food services sales for September 2026 not for inflation were up 0.8 percent (±0.4 percent) from the previous month, and up 6.3 percent (±0.5 percent) from September 2025.

Yet much of it was spent on soaring gas prices, or diesel prices which are approximately one dollar higher per gallon than gasoline.

That’s because we are in the middle of the A.I. investment boom that will keep the financial markets at record levels and the economy growing into next year. But everything will be more expensive.

Trump claims his war is to prevent Iran from ever having nuclear weapons. But President Obama had already accomplished it with his Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) in 2015 in which Iran signed a treaty with the major world powers to never develop a nuclear weapon,

Trump cancelled the treaty that would have kept the Middle East at peace because of his hate for a Black President, so now the Strait of Hormuz is closed and petroleum supplies will be more expensive and more difficult to obtain when it ultimately reopens because Iran controls the access.

There was never a mention of the Strait of Hormuz in Obama’s Treaty because it was an international waterway.

So what happens next? If the A.I. construction continues and consumers keep shopping, we will have decent economic growth. The Atlanta Fed’s GDPNow third quarter GDP estimate is holding at 3.6 percent, up from 2.2 percent in Q2.

And inflation will continue to rise. Wholesale prices that go into consumers prices also took a huge jump of 1.3 percent in September. And that is for the raw materials like steel, lumber, etc., that go into retail products. So, prices will keep rising.

Our Federal Reserve must therefore continue to raise their interest rates to maintain credibility. Their Fed Funds rate controls short term interest rates for credit cards and installment loans, which controls the Wall Street Prime Rate, which is already 7 percent.

It hasn’t slowed down consumers yet because of the chain of events I just mentioned. The stock market is profiting from the A.I. construction and record profits of corporations. But they must slow their shopping eventually, maybe after the holidays when they run out of savings.

The A.I. centers will be taking much of the energy supplies when they open. The Atomic Energy Agency (AEI) estimates that a “typical AI-focused data centre consumes as much electricity as 100,000 households, but the largest one is under construction today will consume 20 times as much.”

I have an interesting thought. Trump could bring inflation back down to earth if he wasn’t so in love with Putin by taking The Ukraine’s side in that war. If Ukraine was given the full support with weapons and intelligence of our “great military”, Russia would have to sue for peace, as the saying goes.

And what then? It could no longer support Iran, who might then also sue for peace. Image what could happen next. Sanctions could be lowered or even eliminated, and world trade could begin to return to normal times.

But is Trump too crazy in love with himself for that to happen? Then remove him and save the world from another brutal recession.

Harlan Green © 2026

Follow Harlan Green on Twitter: https://twitter.com/HarlanGreen

Endless Wars = Endless Inflation

Popular Economics Weekly

“Many participants emphasized that a higher path for the target range would be prudent on risk-management grounds, providing insurance against inflation remaining persistently above target due to stronger-than-expected demand or further adverse supply shocks,” FOMC

FREDdebt%gdp

Must Americans endure more endless wars, as we did with Vietnam, Iraq, and Afghanistan? And was the cost worth it with the mountain of debt left behind?

The latest FOMC minutes quoted above—say if we cannot bring down inflation from “stronger than expected demand for funds” (debt), or “adverse supply shocks” (tariffs and ongoing wars)—a higher path (more rate hikes) would be prudent.

And we now have two more wars—Ukraine, Iran—and the Gaza war, or genocide, whatever we want to call it costing even more, which will push inflation rates even higher, thus the Fed’s response.

The climb in debt portrayed in the above FRED (Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis) graph to today’s unmanageable height began after 9/11 and the GW Bush wars on terror against Iraq and Afghanistan. But we lost the Vietnam and Afghanistan wars; and Iraq is a loss in the $dollars spent, with the last U.S. troops having finally left after 23 years.

A Brown University study estimates the U.S. financial cost of the Iraq War alone is estimated at $1.79 trillion to $2.2 trillion in direct budgetary spending, with long-term projections (including veteran care, disability, and interest on borrowing through 2050) pushing the total past $2.89 trillion to over $6 trillion. [1, 2, 3]

How will the mountain of debt being left behind ever be paid as portrayed in the above FRED graph of public debt as a percentage of GDP in such an environment?

The Federal Reserve’s latest FOMC minutes quote above hinted at the cost of so much debt; multiple interest rates hikes are needed to tame inflation back down to its 2 percent target rate to maintain it credibility to control inflation.

And that means higher interest rates for how long, damaging economic growth? Otherwise, it might take another major recession as the Great Recession (thick vertical gray bar in graph) for it to happen.

Our public debt must eventually be paid for one way or another. It should be with higher taxes on corporations and the wealthiest. But Republicans have chosen to cut taxes while spending more on the military (i.e., our wars), while reducing spending on most social programs except for social security and Medicare.

Butt too much is at stake if we ever defaulted on our public debt, now $41Trillion, with our credit rating downgraded to AA from two of the credit agencies.

The good news is that we have the power to settle ongoing wars. The bad news is that President Trump and his Republicans have taken the wrong side on the Ukraine and Iran wars (Russia’s) and maybe Israel’s as well by supporting Netanyahu and his hard liners that don’t want a two-state solution.

But the EU won’t allow the Ukrainians to lose, and Trump doesn’t have a way out of a war that has cost US $44B to date, per Wikipedia.

The Fed has gone into such rate hike cycles times before. The last concerted effort happened because Alan Greenspan’s Fed held interest rates too low for too long to aid in paying for the wars on terror (sound familiar?).

And it busted the housing bubble, resulting in the 2008-09 Great Recession.

There are much more dire outcomes if we can’t find a way to end these ongoing wars. It will take greater fiscal discipline to bring down $41Trillion in debt; now 122 percent of our Gross Domestic Product.

It’s been done before. The Clinton Administration’s had four years of budget surpluses. Then what happened? The 9/11 Al Queda attack and more wars.

There are cheaper ways to settle conflicts. President Obama’s nuclear arms treaty with Iran, for instance, in which Iran agreed to use nuclear energy only for peaceful purposes.

Harlan Green © 2026

Follow Harlan Green on Twitter: https://x.com/HGreen97180/

What Scares Americans--Part II?

Popular Economics Weekly

“Overall, sentiment for lower-income consumers and those with smaller stock portfolios dropped steeply this month, groups that have fewer resources to weather increases in prices. Frustration over cost-of-living continues to mount, as consumers across the political spectrum believe that the trajectory of the economy has weakened since the beginning of the year.”

FREDUMichsurvey

President Trump’s attempts to bully Americans into accepting his policies aren’t working as we approach the midterms. It’s not surprising because of who he has chosen to fill his administration, bullies, usually with little knowledge of the law and lower IQs, lower than his own (100?).

It amounts to planned terror, against not just the undocumented but whole communities who fear that even legal immigrants might be rounded up, legal citizens shot, and American citizens losing their vote.

How else do we explain actions that don’t match Trump’s words: policies that raise inflation and shrink energy supplies, shrink world trade and raise our prices, cut healthcare and grow disease outbreaks, and start wars instead of preventing them?

Those who’ve been hurt most are also own supporters. The University of Michigan is the latest to report Americans’ unhappiness with Trump’s economy.

The sentiment survey headline index fell to 46.3 in its preliminary October reading from 48.1 in September, according to its latest data. This is when it averaged close to 100 during President Biden’s and Trump’s first term.

The survey highlights that the most unhappy in the above U Mich graph were Independents(black bar) and the bottom Tercile one-third with no stocks(green bars).

No wonder. The September unemployment report showed just 29,000 payroll workers hired, averaging just 45,000 jobs per month in the last year.

Why does he enable the failures? Perhaps the best example is his double-speak. Rather than admit he can’t answer a question, he lies, or he finds someone else to blame.

He is living in an economy he doesn’t understand, a holdover from the first Gilded Age of corruption with its robber barons and scandals.

He can’t grow an economy with illegal tariffs, unpopular wars, and broken treaties. His policies are finally coming home to roost as the saying goes, with record unpopularity so close to the midterms.

Add to this his stated attempt to ‘purify’ the American electorate to be as white as possible, allowing the killing of undocumented workers in doing so.

It amounts to terror, using armed and masked ICE officers to terrorize legal and illegal immigrants is perhaps the most obvious attempt to mimic Hitler Brownshirt’s roundup of Jews in the leadup to WWII.

These are very much acts of domestic terrorism. And most of Trump’s Billionaires want unregulated A.I. to grow as well. Who will make the decisions then?

Harlan Green © 2026

• Follow Harlan Green on Twitter: https://x.com/HGreen97180

What Scares So Many Americans?

Popular Economics Weekly

"The only thing we have to fear is fear itself—nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance." FDR

President Roosevelt understood in his 1933 inaugural speech, “The only thing we have to fears fear itself…” the horrific fears of Americans at the beginning of the Great Depression; the paralyzing feelings that things could only get worse.

I believe many Americans are just as scared today. It’s not only because of the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic that affected the world in many similar ways to the Great Depression. And it explains why American voters could twice elect Donald Trump, a convicted felon and known sexual predator, as president.

Our government is based on a capitalist system that generated a 25 percent unemployment rate and long bread lines. It failed to care for the many Americans who couldn’t adopt to a new industrial world of mass production and mass markets that caused the Great Depression

Such overwhelming fear pervades much of American life today—that has generated our record number of gun holders and incarcerated citizens, as well as record income inequality with the top 1% income earners owning as much as 90% of the population. The gap between haves and have nots is the worst in the developed world.

Roosevelt’s New Deal was the answer in the 1930s by literally putting Americans back to work on the government’s tab who couldn’t find work on their own in programs that would benefit all Americans, such as the WPA that built many of our dams and bridges, and CCC that preserved our national parks.

It protected those who worked with workman’s compensation when they lost their job, the 8-hour day, and gave labor unions the right to negotiate with their employers.

But Donald Trump, because of his innate cruelty and utter disregard for the laws and constitution, was able to convince many Americans that immigrants, gays, a weak military, inferior races were to blame for their poverty.

Perhaps Democrats today would have better understood how much such events as the COVID-19 pandemic had paralyzed Americans and the world in a similar way—if there had been another Roosevelt instead of Donald Trump.

FREDUMichsurvey

The FRED graph of the University of Michigan sentiment survey shows when Americans became most fearful; in the sharp decline in positive feelings that began in January 2024 at the beginning of Trump’s second term; when he began to almost completely ignore the laws of the land and the constitution.

How do ordinary wage earners that comprise most Americans conquer their fears,“convert retreat into advance” without another Roosevelt?

Reverse the economic policies that took away so much of their wealth and driven so many into poverty, for starters. Raise the national minimum wage $7.25 per hour that hasn’t changed since the 1990s.

Then reverse the massive tax cuts enacted that began in the 1980s for both the highest earners and corporations that have saddled American taxpayers with $40trillion in national debt. It’s been done before.

It can be done by understanding Americans’ dreams, instead of exploiting their fears.

Harlan Green © 2026

Follow Harlan Green on Twitter: https://twitter.com/HarlanGreen

Why the Employment Mystery?

 Popular Economics Weekly

“Both nonfarm payroll employment (+29,000) and the unemployment rate (4.2 percent) changed little in September, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Employment in all major industries changed little over the month.” BLS.gov

FREDpayrolls

September’s U.S. official unemployment report was a disappointment—just 29,000 jobs were added vs. +133,000 jobs in August. But that may not be a sign of a weakening labor market.

It should be obvious that the labor market is at the beginning of another recovery with the massive acceleration in government and A.I. spending that eclipses any prior era by $Billions.

The new chip factories and data centers are being built over time. It may be another decade before we will see definitive results in job formation and GDP growth, as happened in prior technological revolutions, such as for computer and the Internet use to spread.

So it’s difficult to see the changes, contrary to the Bureau of Labor Statistics report, or even the final employment numbers. For instance, after losing -10,000 jobs in July, mainly because of supply disruptions from Trump’s Iran blockade, payroll formation was originally reported to be 162,000 jobs in August then reduced to 133,000 hires in its latest revision.

And I’m guessing that September new jobs will probably be revised upward from 29,000 jobs, given that it’s hard to estimate September because totals include seasonal back to school and government hires that aren’t known immediately.

So, all that investment must eventually grow the job market as well. Steve Ratner, Morning Joe’s resident economist, said in a NYTimes opinion piece that we could already be seeing its impact; the labor markets are beginning to hire more technical professionals because of it.

“To date, A.I. has killed a number of jobs but boosted employment for plumbers, electricians, data scientists and market research analysts”.

Manufacturing may be the biggest story. Manufacturing employment was little changed in September (+9,000) but is up by 72,000 since a recent low in December 2025.

And the Institute of Supply Management’s manufacturing index of new orders climbed 1.6 points last month to a robust 55.3%. It means a majority (55.3%) of supply managers report more new orders. Some manufacturers are even hiring for the first time in a few years. Job creation was positive for the third straight month, following a 33-month streak of declines.

So the low September payroll total may be a temporary glitch.

And GDP growth has already been revised upward in the past two quarters. Q1 2026 GDP was bumped up from 2.0 to 2.2 percent and Q2 from 1.5 to 2.5 percent. And there are +3 percent predictions for Q3 growth.

But all that activity is blowing up inflation. The price index for gross domestic purchases increased 5.6 percent in the second quarter GDP number, revised down 0.2 percentage point from the previous estimate.

This means there will be another Fed rate hike, but maybe after the November election, which is the tradition so as not to be seen as influencing voters.

“Total nonfarm payroll employment changed little in September (+29,000), following an average monthly gain of 45,000 over the prior 12 months.

Health care employment continued its upward trend in September (+17,000), but at a slower pace than the average monthly gain over the prior 12 months (+33,000).

Will the employment picture improve with literally $Trillions going into the economy? More importantly, will it improve consumers’ confidence in their own future, which has been in the dumps? They have to believe it will for that to happen. A.I. robots won’t do it.

That is the conundrum, as former Fed Chair Greenspan would say.

Harlan Green © 2026

Follow Harlan Green on Twitter: https://twitter.com/HarlanGreen

Consumers Breakout For Holidays

 Financial FAQs

“Personal income increased $66.6 billion (0.2 percent at a monthly rate) in August, according to estimates released today by the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA). Disposable personal income (DPI)—personal income less personal current taxes—increased $68.6 billion (0.3 percent), and personal consumption expenditures (PCE) increased $190.8 billion (0.9 percent).” BEA.gov

I said last week better economic growth depends on the consumer to keep shopping despite the higher inflation and Federal Reserve actions that raise consumers’ cost of living. And there may be at least one more +0.25 percent hike this year.

And rising prices haven’t stopped consumer spending yet. The Federal Reserve’s main consumer measure, the Personal Consumption Expenditure Index (PCE), shows consumers shopping more; maybe because they haven’t run out of savings and want to enjoy the holidays and Christmas?

The jury is out on why they continue shopping. Tariffs and the Iran blockade haven’t stopped them yet, just made it more expensive. But they are depleting their savings because personal incomes, mainly wages, aren’t keeping up with the rising prices.

So what are consumers buying says the PCE? Just about everything they need; motor vehicles, energy (gas, diesel fuel) in the face of higher prices, to no one’s surprise.

A big jump in employment (+162,000) last month may also have encouraged consumers to be braver. This month’s unemployment report could be a repeat.

Continued economic growth will also depend on the rest of the economy, of course. Most business investment is with the military and A.I. construction but that won’t help consumers, whose spending makes up two-thirds Gross Domestic Product growth.

Construction also surging because of the A.I. build out, for instance. That shows in the S&P Manufacturing Index growth.

“This week’s flash PMI surveys pointed to a sharp acceleration in US activity. The S&P Global US Composite PMI rose from 56.0 in August to 58.4 in September, its strongest reading since July 2021. Both manufacturing and services strengthened, while employment growth accelerated and business costs picked up. S&P Global described the combination as a distinctly hawkish signal for interest rates.”

This is also could better the mood of consumers. But that’s not enough to sustain their spending for long. The Trump administration has cut back other programs, defying congressional mandates, that would benefit consumers and thus boost longer term growth.

That won’t happen as long as Trump viciously cuts more of the healthcare, education, and environmental protection programs. And the immigration crackdown is depleting many of the service sector jobs that immigrants populate.

We can also say the 7 percent plus fixed mortgage rates have stopped the housing sector in its tracks, further shrinking growth potential.

But consumers might as well make the most of these holidays as long as the good times last!

Harlan Green © 2026

Follow Harlan Green on Twitter: https://twitter.com/HarlanGreen

A 'Hard Landing'?--Part II

 Popular Economics

“The number of job openings was little changed at 7.1 million in August, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Hires changed little at 5.2 million, while total separations were unchanged at 5.1 million. Within separations, quits (3.1 million) were unchanged, while layoffs and discharges (1.6 million) were essentially unchanged.” BLS.gov

FREDjolts

Will the federal Reserve engineer a hard or soft landing in this new rate hike cycle just beginning? A soft-landing is possible, but something has to be done about the rapid rise in interest rates.

The last time the Fed acted to tame inflation was during the post-COVID-19 pandemic recovery when CPI inflation had reached 9 percent.

But it worked. There wasn’t another recession and the economy has had five years of continuous growth since then, in large part because of the bipartisan recovery aid, including personal checks paid to almost all Americans.

More than $5Billion was invested in the recovery from the worst recession since the Great Depression.

Can the Fed do a repeat performance under new Fed Chair Kevin Warsh, an actual economist?

The just released JOLTS report shows that better economic growth is ahead, even with the Fed’s first rate hike since 2024. The actual unemployment report is due and will give more clues—such as whether hiring picks up.

So the hard landing scenario—which is an engineered recession when the Fed holds interest rates too high for too long--I believe is less likely, even though bond interest rates are the highest in 20 years; a danger single that credit conditions are tight for both businesses and consumers.

The Jobs Openings and Labor Turnover survey shows the number of job openings has been gradually increasing from its low of 6.55 million openings last December and is now 7.1 million.

There were 5.2 million hires and 5.1 million separations (i.e., quits), thus approximately 100,000 net new jobs were possibly created in August. This should be positive news for the upcoming August unemployment report.

If higher job formation continues, consumers will spend more despite the Fed’s actions to raise their higher borrowing costs. Consumers aren’t feeling good about the cost of anything since the Iran war.

They will need a confidence boost. They aren’t very happy per the latest Conference Board survey.

“The Consumer Confidence Index deteriorated notably in September, following two prior months of softening,” said Dana M Peterson, Chief Economist, The Conference Board. “The Present Situation Index fell sharply, while the Expectations Index slipped further into negative territory.”

But higher job creation numbers might do the trick and allow a soft landing, especially if the A.I. build out will create the good jobs that are needed to run the new economy.

Harlan Green © 2026

Follow Harlan Green on Twitter: https://twitter.com/HarlanGreen

More Economic Growth?--Part II

Financial FAQs

“Real gross domestic product (GDP) increased at an annual rate of 1.5 percent in the second quarter of 2026 (April, May, and June), according to the second estimate released today by the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA). In the first quarter, real GDP increased 2.1 percent.” BEA.gov

FREDgdp.

I don’t believe a recession is near, I said last week. The five-year cycle of economic growth begun with the recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic could continue.

For how long? The longest growth cycle to date was during the Obama and Trump I administrations—2009 to 2020 (see above graph). And that was because of the massive government spending to bring U.S. out of the 2008-09 Great Recession.

This is despite Trump’s economic wrecking ball that has reduced nonfarm payroll formation to just 31,000 per month over the past year and canceled or reduced many of President Biden’s bipartisan bills that boosted investment in infrastructure, healthcare, environmental protection, and healthcare services.

And what about the Fed’s rate hike(s)? Barron’s Randall Forsyth reports that interest rate markets believe the Federal Reserve risks causing a recession, or stagflation at least, by raising its Fed Funds rate +0.25 percent one to two more times to fight very stubborn inflation.

That is why economic growth slowed to 2.1 percent and 1.5 percent in Q1 and Q2 this year that the Fed could further damage because of its hawkish rhetoric on inflation.

But something remarkable is happening that could pull Americans away from the precipice. The Atlanta Fed’s GDPNow estimate of third quarter GDP growth is 5.1 percent for the second consecutive month, above most economists’ predictions.

Why? Consumers and governments are on a spending spree, and some $800B is being invested in the construction of A.I. data centers blanketing the country where many Americans don’t want them.

This is while corporations have record profits, which will extend the record stock market run whose prices are already in nosebleed country. The Price-to-Earnings ratio of the S&P 500 is 28 to 1, already far above its long term 15 to 1 historical ratio, according to economist Robert Shiller of irrational exuberance fame.

Trump and Republicans can’t do much more damage to growth. Their policies are failing at almost everything they attempt. Trump’s signature tariffs are illegal and require refunding, which will aid the bottom line of corporations and lower the prices of such as Target and Walmart.

He has failed to win the Iran war, and the world is finding ways to work around the consequent energy shortages. And renewable energy sources are making a comeback.

The Japanese have even agreed to build small nuclear reactors and two huge natural gas energy projects in the Midwest and South.

Consumers haven’t stopped spending, either. Surprisingly, American retail shoppers are out in force again with the 1.2 percent August sales increase. Many consumers seem to be recovering from the shock to energy prices since the beginning of the Iran War.

And maybe payroll hiring will continue to improve with the 166,000 additional hires in August. But the bottom line is the Iran war must end as well, and everyone knows it.

Harlan Green © 2026

Follow Harlan Green on Twitter: https://twitter.com/HarlanGreen

 

More Economic Growth Ahead

Financial FAQs

“The GDPNow model estimate for real GDP growth (seasonally adjusted annual rate) in the third quarter of 2026 is 5.1 percent on September 17, unchanged from September 16 after rounding. After this morning’s housing starts release from the US Census Bureau, the nowcast of third-quarter real residential investment growth decreased from -4.3 percent to -4.7 percent.”

GDPNow

This five-year plus cycle of business growth that began after the COVID-19 recession could continue for years. I have become much more upbeat about our economic future.

All signs are pointing to perhaps a large jump in economic growth for several years, despite the geopolitical chaos. Why? Trump and Republican actions may not be as damaging to the world economies from his tariffs and desire to have a second Gilded Age that has created so many robber barons and the massive concentration of wealth.

The massive A.I. investments and stock market highs say that it could continue despite the reordering of world markets amid so much geopolitical uncertainty. This could outweigh the effects from tariffs and the unending Iran war that continue to elevate inflation. Growth isn’t being boosted by just the A.I. build out that is projected to cost some $800B, more than all residential real estate investment.

The manufacturing and service sector activity as measured by the latest Institute of Supply Management indexes are still expanding, causing long-term interest rates to rise as well.

“In August, the Services PMI^® registered 55.4 percent, an increase of 1.3 percentage points compared to July’s figure of 54.1 percent. The Business Activity Index remained in expansion territory in August, increasing 2.6 percentage points to 61.7 percent from July’s reading of 59.1 percent.”

“The Manufacturing PMI^® registered 54.6 percent in August, 1 percentage point below the July figure of 55.6 percent. The overall economy continued in expansion for the 22nd month in a row. (A Manufacturing PMI^® above 47.5 percent, over a period of time, generally indicates an expansion of the overall economy.)”

The Atlanta Fed’s GDPNow estimate of third quarter GDP growth is 5.1 percent for the second consecutive month, above most economists’ predictions. Consumers and governments are on a spending spree, as well as the construction of A.I. data centers that are blanketing the country.

The longest positive growth cycle to date was during the Obama and Trump I administrations—2009 to 2020, slightly eclipsing the 1990’s Clinton era that ended with four years of budget surpluses.

S&P also chimed in with its composite output index growing the fastest in five years. But will it withstand the Federal Reserve rate hike cycle just begun, with maybe a second rate boost this year?

The key to prolonging this business cycle is also the labor market, which has been subpar until now. The August 162,000 total nonfarm payroll employment was a total surprise, given the average monthly gain of just 31,000 over the prior 12 months.

Surprisingly, American shoppers are out in force for the first time this fall after several pauses as they rushed to get ahead of rising prices for the holidays, I said last week.

So corporations must keep hiring, in spite of the looming fear of A.I. robots supplanting many jobs.

Harlan Green © 2026

Follow Harlan Green on Twitter: https://twitter.com/HarlanGreen

Will It Be a 'Hard Landing'?

Popular Economics

“The US LEI receded slightly in August, the first monthly decline since March of this year,” said Justyna Zabinska-La Monica, Senior Manager, Business Cycle Indicators, at The Conference Board. “Four out of ten components fell compared to the previous month, with consumer expectations remaining a significant strain on the Index.”

 

LEI

Does the new Fed chairman want to be another Paul Volcker, whose Board of Governors raised the Fed Funds rate to 20 percent to cure the stagflation surge of the 1970s? We don’t need another ‘hard landing’, the economic term for an engineered recession.

New Fed Chair Kevin Warsh said at the most recent FOMC meeting that the Fed would do what it takes to restore confidence in the Federal Reserve to fulfill its mandate of low inflation with maximum employment.

And to make its point the 12 Fed Governors voted unanimously to raise their Fed Funds rate +0.25 percent, thus raising the Prime Rate from 6.75 to 7.00 percent that governs most installment loan and credit card rates.

So the surge in August retail sales might not be a good thing, as much as consumers would like to celebrate another good holiday, since how is the Fed to bring down inflation otherwise when consumers are a major cause of it?

The core personal consumption expenditure index—the version of the Fed’s preferred inflation measure for consumers that excludes food and energy prices—has exceeded the Fed’s 2% target for over 60 months.

The Conference Board’s Index of Economic Indicators (LEI) that attempts to predict future growth has been flashing signals of a slowdown for months per its graph above (downward slope of blue line).

But even the tariffs and Mideast wars haven’t slowed down consumer spending enough. The Fed is saying that it has waited too long to act to bring down inflation, which is endangering economic growth and the U.S. currency.

Chairman Warsh also said five years was too long to wait for the inflation rate to return its 2 percent target rate because of the tariffs and Middle East unrest. It was last this low during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Of course, “The odds of a serious Fed policy mistake are uncomfortably high and rising,” warned Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody’s Analytics, in a post on X, I quoted last week.

Barron’s Randall Forsythe cites David Rosenberg of Rosenberg Research on what can be the most dangerous mistake, “Unless oil prices come down quickly. The only way by which interest rates bring inflation back to the 2% target is “by destroying enough demand to offset the supply loss. That is a recession by design,” he concludes.

Economists call it a ‘hard landing’. And that has always been the dilemma; how can the Fed boost interest rates just enough to engineer a ‘soft landing’, which means bring inflation back down to its long-term average without causing a recession?

This is the rock and a hard place I’ve been talking about. It can’t be done without real pain.

Harlan Green © 2026

Follow Harlan Green on Twitter: https://twitter.com/HarlanGreen

Good Retail Sales For Holidays

 Financial FAQs

“Advance estimates of U.S. retail and food services sales for August 2026, adjusted for seasonal variation and holiday and trading-day differences, but not for price changes, were $773.9 billion, up 1.2 percent (±0.4 percent) from the previous month, and up 6.0 percent (±0.5 percent) from August 2025.” Census Bureau

FREDretailsales

What a difference in just a month! I was overly pessimistic earlier this year when consumers’ confidence was declining on how consumers would behave during the holidays because of the energy shortages and higher tariffs.

Surprisingly, American shoppers are out in force for the first time this fall after several pauses as they rushed to get ahead of rising prices for the holidays.

Retail sales jumped +1.2 percent in August after declining -0.7 percent in July. That’s a huge rise with some inflation indexes above 5 percent. It seems homeowners and investors benefiting from the financial markets can afford more dining out and leisure travel these days.

For good reason. The 162,000 new payroll jobs tallied in August may have emboldened them after miniscule job gains the prior three months. Add in that third quarter economic growth predictions are now clustered around 4 percent because of the A.I. build out and record corporate profits after very meek growth in Q1 and Q2.

The August 162,000 total nonfarm payroll employment was a total surprise, given the average monthly gain of just 31,000 over the prior 12 months. Why the sudden rise? These are largely new service sector jobs, which means summertime travel and leisure activities pick up, schools will soon begin, and nonresidential construction of the A.I. data centers is going full speed.

Employment in food services and drinking places increased by 59,000 in August, well above the average monthly gain of 12,000 over the prior 12 months as well. Local government education added 42,000 jobs in August, offsetting a decrease in the prior month.

Will this reverse the severe job decline since early 2024 at the start of the second Trump administration? It will depend on how consumers are feeling about the economy as I said.

They aren’t feeling that well at present. According to Joanne Hsu, the University of Michigan sentiment survey Director:

“Democrats and Republicans alike posted sizable declines (in sentiments), while independents were little changed from August. Year-ahead expectations for both personal finances and business conditions plunged. With a resurgence in fuel prices and trade tensions, consumers anticipate greater pressures on their pocketbooks to come.”

But this is before the new tariffs on our largest trading partner’s Canadian exports kick in that will boost construction costs and vehicle prices even higher.

Maybe some consumers want to enjoy the present while they can rather than worry about the future and what the $trillions being invested in A.I. might do to the job market. What do they know?

LATE BULLETIN—The Federal Reserve just announced a +0.25 percent raise in their Fed Funds rate for the first time in three years, with maybe more raises to come because of the worsening Mideast conflict.

Harlan Green © 2026

Follow Harlan Green on Twitter: https://twitter.com/HarlanGreen

What's the Fed To Do?

 Popular Economics

“Real gross domestic product (GDP) increased at an annual rate of 1.5 percent in the second quarter of 2026 (April, May, and June), according to the second estimate released today by the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA). In the first quarter, real GDP increased 2.1 percent.” BEA.gov

FREDgdp

Economic growth has slowed because of too much economic and geopolitical uncertainty that shows no signs of relenting. So, there are growing warnings that the Federal Reserve might be raising interest rates too soon in September.

“The odds of a serious Fed policy mistake are uncomfortably high and rising,” warned Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody’s Analytics, in a post on X.

What mistakes? Like raising interest rates too soon to anticipate events that might not even happen. Dr. Zandi is commenting about a fear that the Fed will act too soon to curb the growing inflation surge, thus slowing economic growth unnecessarily in the face of more events that may require easier credit conditions.

I’m also on the side of caution. The record highs in financial markets fit all the signs of past investment bubbles. Therefore, raising interest rates prematurely may burst the investment bubble as it did the housing bubble that created the Great Recession.

The argument to hold rates or even lower them is because Trump’s tariffs have already reduced consumers’ pocketbooks. The $billions in refunds ordered by the courts from the illegal tariffs have mostly benefited major retailers such as Target.

Or, the Fed may be right to raise their rates now because inflation won’t slow down and the financial markets are at record levels, which will goose economic growth for probably the rest of this year.

That’s why inflation indexes like the wholesale PPI inflation gauge are trending above 5 percent while countries are already experiencing energy shortages amid two ongoing wars.

Economic growth is picking up from the A.I. buildout as well, which means inflation won’t come down of its own accord. There are predictions that third quarter GDP growth may be as high as 4 percent due to record corporate profits and the A.I. buildout frenzy.

The often cited Atlanta Fed’s GDPNow third quarter growth prediction has been above 4 percent since it was initiated in mid-summer, mostly due to predictions that robust consumer spending and domestic investments will continue.

“Real final sales to private domestic purchasers, the sum of consumer spending and gross private fixed investment, increased 4.2 percent in the second quarter, revised up 0.3 percentage point from the previous estimate,” said the Atlanta Fed.

Another inflation gauge, the price index for gross domestic purchases per the BEA announcement increased 5.8 percent in the second quarter, revised up 0.1 percentage point from the previous estimate. The personal consumption expenditures (PCE) price index increased 5.3 percent, revised up 0.2 percentage point, and the PCE price index excluding food and energy increased 3.6 percent, also revised up 0.2 percentage point.

These are more inflation measures that say inflation will require years to come back down to the Fed’s 2 percent inflation target. There aren’t yet ceasefires being negotiated in both wars, much less endings, and Trump keeps attempting to raise his illegal tariffs!

So the Fed is between the classic rock and a hard place. Raising rates will slow growth from the A.I. data center buildout while maintaining or lowering rates will keep consumers spending and the job market from collapsing.

But the Fed’s inflation mandate is in direct conflict with Trump administration policies that want to keep interest rates as low as possible to pay for its tax cuts and policy mistakes.

So why not be extremely cautious and protect yourself from all the possible disasters looming on the horizon? Or leave it to the Federal Reserve Governors to be the canaries in the coal mine.

Harlan Green © 2026

Follow Harlan Green on Twitter: https://twitter.com/HarlanGreen

Inflation Out of Control?

 

Jobs Picture Improving?

 Financial FAQs 

“Total nonfarm payroll employment increased by 162,000 in August, and the unemployment rate was unchanged at 4.1 percent, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Employment increased in food services and drinking places and in local government education. The information industry lost jobs.” BLS.gov

FREDpayrolls

Total nonfarm payroll employment rose by 162,000 in August, higher than the average monthly gain of 31,000 over the prior 12 months, said the Bureau of Labor Services.The new payroll jobs tallied in August look to be a temporary blip after miniscule job gains the prior three months.

Why the sudden rise? These are largely service sector jobs, which means summertime travel and leisure activities pick up, and schools will soon begin.

Employment in food services and drinking places increased by 59,000 in August, well above the average monthly gain of 12,000 over the prior 12 months. Local government education added 42,000 jobs in August, offsetting a decrease in the prior month.

Will this reverse the severe job decline since early 2024, the start of the second Trump administration, that is portrayed in the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis (FRED) graph above?

Only if Trump will cease finding ways to illegally raise tariffs, begin to honor existing tariff agreements, and settle the Iran war that he is mired in. Oh yes, also stop the immigration policies that have depleted the number of working adults.

Otherwise, the one million fewer working adults who have stopped looking for work, thus shrinking the labor force, will also shrink economic growth.

The FRED graph is an accurate depiction of what a gutted labor market looks like since 2024. There is no consistency, because it reflects the moment-to-moment thoughts, or lack of thoughts, of a President who rules by distraction to shield the damage to economic growth he and Republicans are causing.

It’s a huge damage list—+300,000 federal jobs cuts by DOGE, downsizing or eliminating whole departments in Health and Human Services, the EPA, Medicare and Medicaid that hurts worker productivity by creating a sicker working population.

The bond rout (NYTimes) that is raising longer term interest rates has scared our allies. Both the Dutch and French governments have elected to remove their $billions in gold assets out of U.S. territory, where they have been traditionally held because they no longer trust the U.S. to keep international agreements.

Will other countries begin to sell off their U.S. holding of Treasury bonds as well? That would be a major red flag, as it means other countries are turning away from using the U.S. Dollar that supports most world trade.

Nobel Laureate Paul Krugman doesn’t think it’s a danger just yet.

“I’m not saying that Democrats should be like Trump, and blithely ignore debt and deficits. They should by all means push for tax hikes on high incomes, close loopholes exploited by multinational corporations, strengthen IRS enforcement, and more.”

The economic uncertainty could also be a result of Trump’s own deteriorating mental state and three more years of endless military wars. We will need our allies.

Harlan Green © 2026

Follow Harlan Green on Twitter: https://twitter.com/HarlanGreen

Not A Merry Christmas?

 Financial FAQs

“Personal income increased $115.1 billion (0.4 percent at a monthly rate) in July, according to estimates released today by the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA). Disposable personal income (DPI)—personal income less personal current taxes—increased $125.9 billion (0.5 percent), and personal consumption expenditures (PCE) increased $36.3 billion (0.2 percent).” BEA.gov

 

BEA.gov

We are fast approaching the shopping season and there are growing worries about consumers ability to soldier on the rest of year with the sudden drop (-0.6%)in July retail sales. They seem to be running out of money. And we know what that means, since consumer spending powers most economic activity

The picture of declining consumer incomes in the BEA’s Personal Consumption Expenditures graph is disheartening, to say the least, and could precipitate a recession sooner rather than later. It’s not only because the job market is shrinking, but our working population as well.

The U.S. economy lost -23,000 payroll jobs this July after gaining just +20,000 jobs in July. It’s the picture of a labor market stuck in neutral; most employers are neither hiring nor firing.

Yet the unemployment rate has been stuck at a fairly low 4.2 percent for months. Why wouldn’t employers hire more workers? Because there’s not as much demand for consumer products, which powers most economic growth. And demand is declining, not only because of the soaring inflation—3.7 percent in the PCE report above—but fewer shoppers.

Population growth in the United States has slowed significantly with an increase of only 1.8 million, or 0.5%, between July 1, 2024, and July 1, 2025, according to the new Vintage 2025 population estimates released today by the U.S. CensusBureau.

And we know why.

“The slowdown in U.S. population growth is largely due to a historic decline in net international migration, which dropped from 2.7 million to 1.3 million in the period from July 2024 through June 2025,” said Christine Hartley, assistant division chief for Estimates and Projections at the Census Bureau.

Low population growth = slow economic growth = fewer jobs, in other words. The decline in “net international migration” is the culprit, to no one’s surprise. Trump is bragging about the tens of thousands of deportations in his single-minded assault on undocumented immigrants; many who have worked long enough in the U.S. to raise children who are citizens now serving in the military.

Those believing that inflation will decline as more companies adopt A.I. software to replace those workers and improve labor productivity will be sadly disappointed. The bond market selloff is the first warning that higher interest rates are here to stay—as long as higher tariffs and ongoing wars raise the risk factors that govern economic activity.

“Government bond yields are hitting multi-decade highs, reflecting anxiety about debt levels, deficits and inflation. The effects will extend to mortgages, business loans and other types of credit,” said the NYTimes at this writing.

Who will buy the products if there are fewer shoppers? That is Silicon Valley’s A.I. miscalculation. Consumers already know this, and their declining personal savings rate to 3 percent (in graph) highlights this fact. They have less to spend, period.

Harlan Green © 2026

Follow Harlan Green on Twitter: https://twitter.com/HarlanGreen

Not Another Greenspan?

 Popular Economics

“The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) increased 0.1 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis in July after falling 0.4 percent in June, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Over the last 12 months, the all items index increased 3.4 percent before seasonal adjustment.” BLS.gov

FREDcpi

Kevin Warsh, the new Federal Reserve Chairman sounded hawkish in his first speech at the Fed’s annual Jackson Hole conference, as if an interest rate hike was needed soon to fight rising inflation.

"While the PCE and CPI (inflation) readings were better than expected, they do not tell me that underlying trends have meaningfully improved, and we must be confident that underlying inflation is moving to our objective, clearly and at sufficient speed. Otherwise, we have work to do."

But Warsh is a true-red Republican appointed by President Trump and we know that Trump wants to keep interest rates as low as possible to pay for the tariffs and war he has started and will go at any lengths to make it happen, including attempting to fire Fed Governors (Lisa Cook).

Good luck is all I can say. Warsh confronts a scenario that is frighteningly similar to that of Alan Greenspan’s tenure as Fed Chairman in early 2000. President GW Bush needed ultra-low interest rates to pay for his wars on terror after 9/11. But he also passed huge tax cuts that Republicans didn’t want to pay for.

And Greenspan worked to assist him in financing the invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan by convincing his Fed Governors to hold down interest rates for as long as possible—too long it turned out. The Fed Funds rate was held at 1 percent while CPI inflation was ultimately rising to 5.3 percent by 2008, igniting the housing bubble that ultimately burst, thus creating the Great Recession.

Maybe Greenspan was at heart an inflation dove, because the Fed got behind the inflation curve and didn’t raise its Fed Funds rate to 5.25 percent until 2006, which was too late to stop the housing bubble and soaring inflation.

So does Chairman Warsh’s pronouncement that inflation will be tackled, no matter the consequences, to be believed? The Fed Governors have been sounding equally hawkish on the need to fight inflation. And "short-term interest rates are predominant tool to achieve the dual mandate," said Warsh (i.e., stable prices and maximum employment).

Yet U.S. debt is growing faster than the economy, and the job market is barely growing. A.I. won’t be the savior if consumers run out of money because they no longer have a job. The BLS’s latest benchmark revision of payroll jobs estimate implied that non-seasonally adjusted nonfarm payroll gains averaged about 11,000 per month through March over the preceding 12 months instead of 18,000, reports Reuters.

So will Warsh and the Fed be able to withstand the merciless vituperation sure to come from the child-like brain of Donald Trump and maintain the inflation fight when the going gets tough?

We don’t want another bubble to burst with A.I.’s investment bubble growing every larger on top of the tariffs and endless wars.

Harlan Green © 2026

Follow Harlan Green on Twitter: https://twitter.com/HarlanGreen

Why So Much Pessimism?

Financial FAQs

“The Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index^® decreased by 0.8 points to 89.4 (1985=100) in August, down from 90.2 in July. The Expectations Index—based on consumers’ short-term outlook for income, business, and labor market conditions—fell by 5.8 points to 68.2. The survey period for this month’s preliminary results was August 3–16.”

Conference Board

The Conference Board’s Consumer Confidence survey is the clearest picture of public sentiments about the direction of our economy. Confidence in the American economy has been in a continuous decline since 2022, as the economy was recovering from the COVID-19 pandemics (see graph).

Their decline in confidence has been for a number of reasons, but mainly because the bipartisanship that prevailed during President Biden’s term disappeared once Republicans were no longer seriously interested in being a partner in the recovery. The predictable result has been almost no new job creation and sky-high inflation that has hurt everyone.

In fact, Trump’s Republicans have done everything possible to trash the recovery, to go back to the era of trickle-down economics of the 1980’s ‘borrow now and repay later’, if at all.

The Biden administration started the pandemic recovery working with Republicans to cause the fastest recovery of developed countries from COVID-19, thanks to the $billions invested in infrastructure, environment, inflation reduction and the CHIPS Acts.

So, it was unfortunate that Republicans took the reins in 2025 and enacted another huge tax cut package with no Democrat votes. There was no more bipartisanship, in other words.

They attempted to pay for the tax cuts with higher tariffs levied on every country in the world and severely cutting or eliminating many of the government investments in rebuilding the American economy enacted during Biden’s term, creating today’s record $40 trillion national debt and stagnant growth.

The result of their outright reverse ‘Robin Hood’ piracy (i.e. robbing from the poor to give to the rich) was that just 584,000 jobs were created in 2025, as opposed to Biden’s 135 million jobs added in 2024 and more than 15 million jobs created during President Biden’s four years.

It’s no wonder consumers are in the dumps, per the Conference Board’s Chief Economist Dana M Peterson, Chief Economist:

“While the share of consumers who said a US recession over the next 12 months is “very likely” ticked up, consumers still perceived a low likelihood of a recession in 12 months.”

Add to the fact that consumers are the ones paying for those tariffs with inflation

stuck in the high 3 percent range, and we wonder why consumer spending is shrinking, the main engine of growth.

The Conference Board said that the three oldest generations—Generation X, Baby Boomer, and Silent Generation—trailed in confidence; i.e., those with predominately fixed incomes.

And who have Republicans’ lack of bipartisanship hurt the most? Their own voters. Confidence among Independents and Republicans softened while Democrats were somewhat more positive in August, per the Conference Board.

Harlan Green © 2026

Follow Harlan Green on Twitter: https://twitter.com/HarlanGreen

 

Poor Retail Sales

Popular Economics

“Advance estimates of U.S. retail and food services sales for July 2026, adjusted for seasonal variation and holiday and trading-day differences, but not for price changes, were $763.6 billion, down 0.6 percent (±0.4 percent) from the previous month, but up 5.0 percent (±0.5 percent) from July 2025.” Census.gov

FREDretailsales

The alarming FRED retail sales graph above showed sales had plunged in August after a spending surge earlier in the year. Consumers had already spent the tax perks from Trump’s Big Beautiful Tax Bill. 

The U.S. economy is shrinking. Does this signal a breaking point, are consumers shopping less to preserve some of their declining savings? It is already happening, shown in part by consumer sentiment surveys.

The University of Michigan survey showed a sharp decline in their finances.

“Consumer sentiment fell about 8% this August, ending two consecutive months of improvement,” said Survey Director Joanne Hsu. “While views of personal finances saw only minor declines, expected business conditions sank 11% for the short run and 17% for the long run. Decreases in sentiment were seen across the political spectrum, with Republicans exhibiting the strongest month-to-month decline in August.”

If so, it’s a major danger signal that consumers, who account for two-thirds of economic activity, can no longer support as much economic growth. That leaves investment activity from the record corporate profits the sole leg propping up the financial markets’ record levels.

The retail sales decline is also another sign the U.S. population is no longer growing, and the immigration deportations will only make it worse because immigrants, legal or illegal, are shoppers.

The U.S. Census Bureau reports our population grew at a much slower rate between July 2024 and July 2025 than from 2023 to 2024 (when it increased by 1.0%, or 3.2 million people). “The slowdown is largely due to lower levels of net international migration.”

Consumers’ incomes are not keeping up with inflation as well. Wages rose 3.2 percent per annum whereas retail inflation rose 3.5 percent in the latest month. So, shoppers must now borrow more to keep up their standard of living, which takes a bigger slice of their incomes.

So the job market is shrinking, to no one’s surprise. But July’s catastrophic unemployment report tells us the loss of -23,000 payroll jobs was particularly alarming. Will the $trillions in AI investment replace those jobs and keep inflation from rising more?

I doubt it, since most of the inflation is due to the Trump administration’s tariffs and two wars still raging. It’s the stagflation scenario of the 1970s all other again—energy shortages + higher inflation = stagnant economic growth for years to come.

Harlan Green © 2026

Follow Harlan Green on Twitter: https://twitter.com/HarlanGreen