Trump's Next Recession is Coming. Brace Yourselves

Trump + Epstein + Artificial Intelligence + Bad economy:

Is Revolution in the Air?

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Opinion 

The next recession is coming — and this time, you’re the collateral
John Mac Ghlionn, opinion contributor
Mon, November 17, 2025


Opinion - The next recession is coming — and this time, you’re the collateral

It’s not a matter of if the next recession comes, but when. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent recently warned that “sections of the economy” are already showing signs of strain — and that if the Federal Reserve doesn’t cut rates soon, the pain could spread fast. His warning landed like an echo of what many already feel: Something in the system is starting to buckle.

The numbers may still look fine, the talking heads may still smile, but the tremors have begun. And this time, it will be a recession unlike any before it, because the U.S. is uniquely unprepared to endure it.

In previous downturns, the country has had cushions. Families had savings, unions had leverage, and the government had credibility. Not anymore. Most Americans today have little to no savings, a mountain of debt, and a growing suspicion that the system only works for someone else.

Credit cards have become lifelines. “Buy now, pay later” schemes are treated like budgeting tools. An unexpected bill — a car repair, a medical emergency, a layoff — can set off a chain reaction that ends in eviction. The margin between comfort and crisis has all but disappeared.

Bessent’s concern centers on the Federal Reserve’s refusal to lower interest rates. The Fed keeps rates high to fight inflation, but that very cure could soon kill the patient. High borrowing costs are suffocating small businesses and freezing homebuyers out of the market. Even modest families who once dreamed of owning a home are locked out by mortgage rates that feel like bad punchlines. Housing is stuck in limbo: sellers can’t sell, buyers can’t buy, and renters can’t catch a break. For millions, the American Dream now looks like an overdraft notice.

This recession, when it lands, will not be a repeat of 2008. The dangers are different — and in some ways, more permanent. In past crises, job losses came from factories shutting down or banks imploding. This time, layoffs are happening in sleek glass towers and corporate boardrooms. Artificial intelligence has given companies a new way to cut costs. No need for pink slips or awkward meetings — just one software update and an entire department disappears. The human cost is invisible but immense. People aren’t just losing their jobs; they’re losing their purpose. And this time, there’s little guarantee those jobs will return.

For decades, Americans were told that education was the insurance policy against economic despair. Get a degree, specialize, stay adaptable. But AI is rewriting that promise. Algorithms are encroaching on white-collar work — writing reports, analyzing data, even producing art and code. The recession ahead won’t just shrink paychecks; it will shrink relevance.

The political consequences will be explosive. Economic pain has always bred anger, but this time the anger is already here. It’s been simmering for years — over lockdowns, over borders, over identity and ideology. Add a recession to that volatile mix, and something breaks. When people lose jobs and hope, they stop trusting everything else — governments, banks, media, even neighbors. The next financial crash could trigger not just protests, but full-scale social unrest. America’s patience is stretched to breaking point. One more round of layoffs could tear it apart.

Bessent’s comments about interest rates sound technical, but the stakes are enormous. Keep them high and you crush the middle class; cut them too fast and inflation comes roaring back. The Fed is trapped in a paradox of its own making, trying to control a storm with a thermostat. Meanwhile, Washington is more focused on election cycles than economic cycles. The political class is too divided to plan, too addicted to denial to act. When the downturn comes, they’ll blame one another while ordinary people bear the cost.

There’s a bleak irony here. The same technology that promised prosperity now threatens stability. Automation has made companies lean but society brittle. Efficiency looks good on spreadsheets but disastrous in real life. What economists call “productivity gains” often translate into human losses — fewer jobs, less security, and a country where the lucky few build rockets while the rest clip coupons.

And yet, for all the data and debate, recessions are ultimately emotional. They are about fear — fear of losing what little we have, fear of not being needed anymore, fear that the future is slipping away. When that fear spreads, spending stops, trust collapses, and the economy follows. It’s not just money that disappears; it’s confidence. And once confidence dies, no stimulus check can resurrect it.

Bessent may prove to be the reluctant prophet of a downturn already underway. The cracks are already visible: shrinking factory output, rising credit defaults, retail sales that look eerily calm before the storm. Economists call this a “soft landing.” But when a plane runs out of fuel mid-flight, there’s no soft landing — only impact.

The next recession will be remembered not for its depth but for its disillusionment. It won’t just drain savings; it will drain faith — in markets, in technology, in leaders, in society itself. It will show us, once again, that the line between growth and greed is perilously thin.

We’ve built a society where millions live on borrowed money and borrowed time, and dare to call it normal. The recession ahead may finally expose that illusion. And when illusions die, revolutions stir.

John Mac Ghlionn is a writer and researcher who explores culture, society and the impact of technology on daily life.