This is a dense topic so let me give you a quick summary first:
- Prices are being pushed up while the economy is showing signs of slowing down.
- War is raising energy costs.
- Tariffs raise the price of goods.
- A $40 trillion national debt is making borrowing more expensive.
- Hiring is weakening.
- The stock market depends on enormous expectations for AI.
If prices keep rising while jobs and economic growth weaken, we risk stagflation, one of the hardest economic problems to fix.
The war with Iran has disrupted global energy markets. Higher oil prices don't just mean more expensive gas. They increase the cost of shipping, farming, flying, manufacturing, and delivering almost everything we buy. Using our Strategic Petroleum Reserve can temporarily help, but it also leaves us with less emergency oil for the next crisis.
At the same time, America's national debt has crossed $40 trillion. The government finances that debt by selling bonds. Think of the bond yield as the interest rate America has to pay to borrow money. When yields rise, borrowing gets more expensive. When they fall, borrowing gets cheaper.
Higher Treasury yields can push up mortgages, car loans, business loans, and other interest rates. And America has to compete for investors. Japan, for example, has historically been a major buyer of U.S. debt. As Japanese bonds offer better returns at home, investors have less reason to send that money to Washington.There are also warning signs in the job market. Recent job reports have repeatedly been revised downward, meaning the economy was creating fewer jobs than we originally thought. Hiring is slowing even while families continue dealing with high prices.
Meanwhile, much of the stock market's growth depends on huge expectations for artificial intelligence. AI could create tremendous value, but companies are spending and borrowing enormous amounts based on profits they expect in the future. If those expectations prove too optimistic, falling stock prices could hurt investment, retirement savings, hiring, and consumer confidence.
That is the stagflation risk: prices remain high because of energy, tariffs, debt, and other costs while job creation and economic growth weaken. Families get squeezed from both directions.
The Way Out
We need to stop adding costs to the economy.End wars that disrupt energy markets. Reduce unnecessary tariffs. Bring deficits and debt under control without cutting healthcare and basic services. Build more housing and affordable energy.We should also recognize legal immigration as an economic strength. Immigrants expand our workforce, start businesses, fill critical jobs, pay taxes, and create demand throughout the economy. Cutting immigration while our population ages makes it harder for the economy to grow and can make worker shortages—and prices—worse.Finally, instead of asking working families to carry the cost of our debt, require billionaires and large corporations to contribute more.The answer to an affordability crisis is not austerity for working people. It is lowering unnecessary costs while building a larger, stronger, more productive economy.
We need to stop adding costs to the economy. There a many ways for us to turn this around, but it all starts with HITTING THE BREAKS. After we remove Trump's puppet, Mario Díaz-Balart, we can start doing the obvious things:
1. End wars that disrupt energy markets.
2. Reduce unnecessary tariffs.
3. Bring deficits and debt under control without cutting healthcare and basic services.
4. Build more housing.
5. Invest in sustainable energy.
6. Spend our tax dollars right here in the USA.
Instead, our representative, Mario Díaz-Balart makes the wrong choice, every. single. time.
We should also recognize that legal immigration as an economic strength. Immigrants expand our workforce, start businesses, fill critical jobs, pay taxes, and create demand throughout the economy. Cutting immigration while our population ages makes it harder for the economy to grow and can make worker shortages, and contributes to rising prices.
Instead of asking working families to carry the cost of our debt, require billionaires and large corporations to contribute more. The answer to an affordability crisis is lowering unnecessary costs while building a larger, stronger, more productive economy. When we remove Mario Díaz-Balart on November 3rd, I will get to work fixing his mess.
