How Americans Are Drowning in an Economy That No Longer Works for Them

Frank Dappah
Oct 15
4 min read

From soaring grocery bills to crowdfunding basics — the quiet collapse of everyday financial life

American shopper looking at high grocery prices in 2025 supermarket aisle

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I. The Cost of Living Crisis That Won’t Let Up

Let’s start with the basics — food. According to the latest Consumer Price Index report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the “food at home” category rose 2.7% in the past year, outpacing wage growth and eroding what little financial cushion many Americans had left. It’s not just inflation — it’s accumulation. Families are now paying substantially more for the same gallon of milk, loaf of bread, or pack of chicken that cost far less two years ago.

Economists are warning that inflation is becoming “stickier” than policymakers anticipated. A recent Reuters survey of U.S. economists found that while headline growth forecasts were nudged upward, weak job gains and persistent inflation pressures suggest the economy’s foundation is far more fragile than official statistics imply.

Households that were “doing fine” are now the ones cutting grocery lists in half, delaying medical appointments, or juggling which bill gets paid first. The working class has effectively become the struggling class.

II. When Crowdfunding Becomes a Grocery Budget

If you want a sign of just how warped things have gotten, look no further than the

GoFundMe economy.

In an interview this month, GoFundMe CEO Tim Cadogan revealed that Americans are now crowdfunding day-to-day necessities like groceries and rent, not just medical emergencies or disaster relief. As Fortune reports, “the majority of his American customers are now using the platform to fund food and basic living expenses.”

The story was echoed by Livemint’s coverage, which noted that Cadogan sees “crowdfunding groceries” as the new symptom of an economy that has priced ordinary life out of reach for millions.

This isn’t anecdotal anymore. It’s systemic. The American middle class is quietly being hollowed out — not by sudden collapse, but by a slow, exhausting bleed of everyday costs.

III. The Mirage of “Growth” Amid Stagnation

Despite upbeat forecasts, the real economy feels worse — and for good reason. Analysts now warn that the U.S. could be heading toward “jobless growth,” a dynamic in which productivity rises but employment stagnates. According to Business Insider’s analysis of Goldman Sachs projections, AI-driven efficiency gains are boosting output but not creating new jobs.

The Federal Reserve has acknowledged a slowdown in hiring, which Fed Chair Jerome Powell framed as evidence that the economy “still needs rate cuts.” Translation: there’s growth on paper, but not in paychecks.

Add higher borrowing costs, tariff-driven import inflation, and eroding consumer confidence, and you get what economists once called stagflation — weak growth plus persistent price hikes. A scenario that seemed theoretical a few years ago is now a lived reality for millions.

IV. Policy Misfires and the Erosion of Trust

To understand how we got here, you have to look beyond inflation and into policy failure.

Tariffs: U.S. consumers are paying for trade policy missteps. Economists at Goldman Sachs estimate that 55% of new tariff costs are being passed directly to consumers, according to reporting by the New York Post.

Central Bank Credibility: The International Monetary Fund warns that declining public trust in the Federal Reserve could “jack up inflation expectations,” making the Fed’s own job harder.

Government Paralysis: The ongoing 2025 U.S. government shutdown is costing an estimated $15 billion per week in lost productivity and suspended services — adding yet another drag to an already sluggish recovery.

The result is a credibility crisis: voters no longer believe their institutions can steer the economy toward stability.

How It Feels on the Ground

The data may be technical, but the pain is not. It shows up in checkout lines, rent notices, and family group chats.

Shrinking Safety Nets: Emergency savings are vanishing; the typical American household now has less than $500 in liquid cash reserves.
Credit Card Dependency: With interest rates at multi-decade highs, many are forced to finance basic needs at double-digit APRs.
Widening Inequality: Asset owners are fine. Wage earners are not. That imbalance fuels resentment — and despair.
Emotional Fatigue: Economic anxiety has become the new background noise of American life.

As one food bank director in Ohio put it recently: “We’re not serving the poor anymore — we’re serving the employed.”

The Road Ahead: Fragile, Uneven, and Deeply Uncertain

Even as the IMF projects modest U.S. growth in 2025, it warns that the underlying picture is dimmer than last year — especially when factoring in real wages, debt, and confidence.

Deloitte’s Q3 2025 Economic Forecast paints a similar picture, predicting slow growth, persistent inflation, and uneven recovery extending well into 2026.

It’s not that America is collapsing; it’s that it’s tiring out. A society can withstand high prices for a while — but not indefinitely. When citizens start crowdfunding groceries, that’s not a blip. It’s a red alarm.

The Great Unraveling

The American economy in 2025, is not “resilient.” It’s exhausted — held together by overwork, credit, and denial. The so-called “recovery” is an illusion that exists mainly in PowerPoints and policy briefings.

If we’re being honest, this is what the slow unraveling of a middle class looks like. It doesn’t explode overnight; it quietly buckles under the weight of compounding costs and false optimism.

Until policymakers stop chasing GDP growth and start addressing real purchasing power, the average American will keep feeling poorer — even as the economy looks richer on paper.

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