Affordability and Layoffs: The Twin Wrecking Balls of the American Economy in 2025

The American Middle Class Is Being Systematically Dismantled 2025 will go down as the year the façade of American prosperity cracked wide open. Two words defined the nation’s crumbling economic landscape: “affordability” and “layoffs.” And no — this isn’t a cyclical downturn. It’s the predictable consequence of decades of inflationary monetary policy, unchecked fiscal gluttony, and a corporate class more loyal to AI efficiency than to American workers. Inflation Is Not a Glitch — It’s a Feature of a Broken System Since the 2008 financial crisis, the Federal Reserve has flooded the economy with cheap credit, printing trillions into existence while pretending inflation was “transitory.” That illusion shattered in the wake of pandemic-era stimulus and supply chain collapse. Now Americans are paying the price — literally. 65% of households say their cost of living has worsened in the last year. 46% blame high prices for their worsening finances — the highest share since the late 1970s. Health insurance premiums are jumping 25% for some families in 2026. Groceries? 75% of Americans are cutting spending elsewhere just to afford them. Going out to eat is now a luxury — not a lifestyle. Let’s be clear: these are not one-off inflation spikes. This is currency decay, and it's hitting the working class hardest. Healthcare Is Now Financial Russian Roulette One particularly revealing anecdote came from a 62-year-old marketing consultant who summed it up bluntly: “We are literally at a point where we can’t afford to be sick, and we can’t afford to be healthy.” Health insurance premiums are spiraling. ER visits cost thousands — with coverage. Americans are now forced to gamble with their health because the system has become financially predatory. This isn’t just economic mismanagement — it’s institutional cruelty. The AI Layoff Tsunami Has Begun While inflation bleeds wallets, artificial intelligence is bleeding jobs. And corporate America isn’t hiding it: Over one-third of large firms plan layoffs in 2026 tied directly to AI deployment. Nearly half of companies worth $20 billion or more are preparing “significant job cuts.” At ground level, we’re already seeing the carnage: Tyson Foods is shutting a Nebraska plant, laying off 3,200 workers in a town of 11,000 — the local economy is about to vaporize. General Motors is firing 1,140 workers in Detroit over slowing EV sales. These are not isolated events. This is structural dislocation, orchestrated by the very CEOs and Wall Street technocrats who profited from the pandemic. Vehicle Ownership Now Requires a 100-Month Loan The average new car now costs over $50,000 — up from $38,000 in 2020. Americans are now: Leaning on 100-month loans just to afford basic transportation. Paying $760/month on average, with many signing deals that bury them in interest for nearly a decade. This isn’t sustainable. It’s the economic equivalent of taking out a payday loan to buy your own car. Debt Is Crushing Households — And The Fed Isn’t Coming to the Rescue U.S. household debt has reached an eye-watering $18.6 trillion, and credit card balances are at record highs. Most chilling? Millions of Americans are still paying off Christmas 2024 as we enter 2026. And yet the Federal Reserve, rather than easing the burden, is signaling only one or two rate cuts for 2026 — a gesture so feeble it’s borderline insulting. Why This Matters for DeDollarized Readers This isn’t just domestic turmoil. This is the economic death rattle of the U.S. dollar system. If you’ve been following the dedollarization movement — the pivot by BRICS nations, the surge in bilateral trade deals bypassing the greenback, the rise of gold-backed digital currencies — then the affordability crisis in the U.S. is confirmation, not coincidence. Here’s why it matters: A crumbling middle class means weakened consumer demand, which has long been the engine of dollar dominance. Rising domestic debt limits America’s geopolitical leverage — a nation drowning in IOUs doesn’t dictate terms for long. As the Fed's credibility erodes, foreign holders of U.S. Treasuries are quietly dumping them, accelerating the exit from the dollar as global reserve. The affordability crisis isn’t just about food, rent, or health premiums. It’s about the structural end of American economic supremacy. The Political Volcano Is Starting to Rumble As prices climb and layoffs surge, popular trust in institutions is collapsing. Affordability has already become the #1 issue for voters — with job security climbing rapidly behind it. Americans aren’t just hurting — they’re angry, and that anger is no longer abstract. Towns like Lexington, Nebraska are facing full-on economic death spirals. Blue-collar families are being told by Fortune 500 CEOs that AI is more valuable than their labor. Washington, meanwhile, keeps printing money and passing the bill to Main Street. Final Warning: The System Isn’t Fixing Itself We are not in a "rough patch." We are witnessing the deliberate unraveling of a fiat-based economic model that ran out of room to inflate. Most Americans are still living as if tomorrow will resemble yesterday. But those with eyes to see know better. For Inner Circle readers — those already preparing for a post-dollar world — this is not the time for complacency. It’s time for: Hard asset diversification (gold, silver, land, decentralized digital currencies). Debt minimization — especially high-interest consumer debt. Job redundancy plans — because AI isn’t coming, it’s already here. Localized resilience — food, energy, and community-based systems. If You're Waiting for a Reset, It's Already Happening — Quietly, Brutally, and by Design This economy was never built to last. The dollar was never meant to be honest. The job market was never safe — it was just convenient until it wasn’t. The affordability crisis of 2025 isn’t the end. It’s the beginning of the unraveling. The only question now is: Are you still playing defense inside a collapsing system, or are you building outside of it?

Affordability and Layoffs: The Twin Wrecking Balls of the American Economy in 2025

Bill Brocius Dec 29

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