Honey, I Shrunk the Country
“If there’s one single consistent advantage the United States has carried since its founding, it is its ability to draw talent and expand its population.” But, if you haven’t noticed, we’re living in an era during which those in power seem determined to cede our country’s consistent advantages. And so it is with population growth. Bloomberg (Gift Article): The US Is Flirting With Its First-Ever Population Decline. “The shrinking population of China, which in 2025 recorded its lowest birth rate since Communist rule began in 1949, is one good reason it may never overtake the US as the world’s largest economy. Japan’s population peaked at 128 million in 2010, and its decline has dragged on growth for years. Europe’s worsening demographics have long fed its narrative of economic malaise.” Why would we let other countries corner the market on capped growth and economic malaise when we can become unwelcoming enough as a nation to create similar challenges here at home? America has become a show-er, not a grower.
+ Dollars to Donuts: Our population growth isn’t the only number going down. So is the value of the dollar. The New Yorker: How Trump Is Debasing the Dollar and Eroding U.S. Economic Dominance. “While the stock market, which is firmly in the grip of A.I. fever, rapidly shrugged off the Greenland crisis, the value of the dollar continued to decline: by last Thursday, it had fallen about three per cent. To the uninitiated, this might not sound like a big move, but the market for dollars is highly liquid—millions of transactions are taking place at any given time—and sudden price jumps are rare. During the run-up to Davos, there wasn’t any big news about G.D.P. growth, interest rates, or other economic factors that influence currency traders.”
+ “Perhaps the key to the dollar’s drop is the ripple effect of the president’s erratic policymaking, including abrupt stops and starts with tariffs and military action against a lengthening list of countries. After more than a year of nonstop upheaval emanating from the White House, many foreign investment managers are exhausted.” WaPo (Gift Article): Trump’s chaotic governing style is hurting the value of the U.S. dollar. (Trump is putting his mouth where your money is.)
