Experts warn of slowing economy after score based on Americans’ financial outlooks fell by 32% since January
US consumer sentiment plummeted in April after Donald Trump’s trade war threw the global economy into chaos, according to a new report.
The index of consumer sentiment, a score based on a monthly survey asking Americans about their financial outlooks, fell by 32% since January – the largest drop since the 1990 recession, according to the University of Michigan’s Institute for Social Research.
“Expectations worsened for vast swaths of the population across age, education income and political affiliation,” said Joanne Hsu, director of the surveys of consumers, in a statement. “Consumers perceived risks to multiple aspects of the economy, in large part due to ongoing uncertainty around trade policy and the potential for a resurgence of inflation looming ahead.”
I think we are solidly in that territory
Yes, because the tariffs already indirectly bind the hands of the Fed. Besides a bit of QT (which doesnt really help because of massive deficit), they can neither raise, nor lower rates without causing a big fire as long as the tariffs are in place, but the situation is getting worse by the day, and reality will soon hit like an empty truck.
And honestly, because of this massive shift in distrust in the US market, even backtracking all tariffs to zero would likely not work anymore.
And the most ironic thing is that due to inflation, even when everything goes back to the way it was before trump (it won’t), the US will end up with a bigger trade deficit than before, because the loss of value of the dollar.