Most of my friends and I live in a bubble (Los Angeles) within a bubble (California). With our deadly fires finally extinguished, we’ve turned our attention to the fires in Washington. The gutting of the federal workforce, tariffs on friends and foes and wild claims on foreign lands as our own, all in the name of making America (ahem) great again. These moves are unprecedented, maybe illegal and certainly ill-conceived.
As a result, growing numbers of us are beginning to think the unthinkable: we want the US economy to crash in time to arouse voter anger in the 2026 midterm elections.
I know, I know, as Joe Biden used to say, “It’s never a good bet to bet against America.” But a certain degree of desperation occupies our bubbles and we’re only a month into Trump 2.0. Nothing yet has broken MAGA fever – not the Mueller report, not two impeachments, not conviction on 34 felony charges, not liability for sexual abuse.
Maybe a Great Depression would.
For now, Republicans have an impenetrable wall of power: the White House, control of Congress and a conservative majority on the Supreme Court. We’ve lost our checks and balances and the clear lines separating the three equal branches of government. It’s one big group think that many of us want splintered. When I posed the idea to my friend Chris, he told me, “Oh yeah, I’m hoping it all burns down.”
Even some Republicans are concerned over the speed of change through Trump’s executive orders
Even some Republicans are concerned over the speed of change through Trump’s executive orders that ignore guardrails established by Congress, courts and the Constitution. It’s making us think the only way to offset the overreach is more overreach – enough to wake up the voters who brought this new bunch to power. So, bring it on! Here are three surefire ways to crash the economy:
- With a growing number of countries facing US tariffs as punishment for failing to stem the inward flow of undocumented immigrants and fentanyl, or for taking advantage of US foreign aid largesse, the prospects of a trade war are already driving up consumer costs, home prices and inflation. Let’s have more tariffs!
- As government agencies are eviscerated in the guise of ending wasteful spending and perceived corruption (to cover tax cuts for corporations and the wealthy), we’re losing food safety oversight, environmental protections, aid programs, medical research and soft-power global influence. Let’s un-employ more people!
- While the administration is targeting aliens with a criminal record, many others are getting swept up in deportation efforts. That includes low-wage workers in agriculture, slaughterhouses and manufacturing – the kinds of jobs few Americans want. Finding replacements will drive up costs even more. Let’s deport more people!
These are administration policy prescriptions that land directly on family budgets. Trump won on the promise of helping average Americans. So far, the cost of everything is rising, from rent to groceries to gasoline. Good. Chris and I are rooting for even higher prices. That may not make America great again. But it sure could make America mad.
Michael Janofsky is a writer and editor in Los Angeles. He previously spent 24 years as a correspondent for The New York Time
