1. United States
2. Ohio
3. Letter

In a matter of weeks, the U.S. has gone from having the most robust economy in the G7—with low unemployment, tamed inflation, falling interest rates and steady growth in wages and GDP—to being on the brink of a major economic recession and a government shut down. I disagree with most Republican initiatives, but I think both sides can agree on a few things here: the threat of high tariffs is roiling sensitive industrial supply chains and the US cannot possibly transition all that capacity internally, and certainly not within the timeframe of a single administration. Tariffs cannot bring production home, but they will increase inflation. Trump and Musk are terrorizing our own American workforce with massive layoffs and budget cuts. But federal workers aren’t the only ones being driven from their jobs. ICE is targeting migrants across the country who normally labor in our fields, processing plants, construction and healthcare services. The terrorizing of workers leads us to the worst of all worlds, where costs are going up even while jobs are disappearing. Trump is wrecking popular bipartisan bills out of spite. The Inflation Reduction Act brought down the cost of healthcare and paid for a lot of green energy projects, and the bipartisan Infrastructure bill has funded thousands of much needed upgrades and projects across the country. These programs benefit ALL people, including those in red states. He's cancelling a billion dollars in contracts with local farms for the provision of school meals. These programs benefit ALL of us! Measles and bird flu are spreading in multiple states. The chance of widespread disease or even another pandemic is decidedly non-zero, particularly with once eradicated childhood diseases making a comeback and avian influenza threatening to mutate to a human-to-human transmittable form. We are seeing weakness and loss of trust and confidence across many sectors, with a predictable feedback effect. Higher prices shake consumer confidence, which rattles markets and causes hesitancy in business decision-making. And that begins the downward cycle anew. To use Trump’s own words, “Of course you hesitate.”