money, where are you?
an open letter to the U.S. economy
Hi U.S. Economy,
It’s me, Sarah.
Just wanted to check in. How are you? It’s been a whirlwind few years for both of us. I feel like it’s time for us to catch up.
We’ve been through a lot together throughout my 32 years of living on this not-so-slowly dying planet. I’ve witnessed 9/11 and its aftermath, the housing market crash, the 2008 recession, the mythos of hustle-and-grind culture, avocado toast discourse, a bunch of idiots proclaiming that “Make America Great Again,” massive hiring streaks, widespread layoffs, cryptocurrency, the COVID-19 pandemic, stimulus checks, and 40-year-record high inflation. The other day I bought a bottle of nail polish that used to cost $8 at Duane Reade for $11. Cue the tiny, invisible, sad violins for me.
I’m not writing this out of self-pity. I get it. You’re doing what economies do. Economies are like perpetual teenagers or something, all moody, up and down, all over the place. I get it, kind of.
I suppose I’m writing to ask you, politely: What the fuck is going on here?
Are we in a recession or not? What do you mean we’re in record-high inflation and a carton of eggs costs the same as what I will likely pay if I am blessed enough to be able to buy a Beyonce Renaissance Tour concert ticket? Are we actually gonna fully cancel student debt for real or nah (and if it is the latter: what exactly do the Democrats think they are doing)? Prices are “cooling” and the fed is “optimistic” but interest rates are doing…something?
I don’t exactly have an economics degree (lol) but it seems like the experts also don’t know what is going on, or what to expect, or how to financially plan for the future anymore. It’s unsettling, and has been for a long time, and I, personally, think I can speak for many of us when I say we’d like just a smidgen of security sometime. Anytime.
This finance and economic-related anxiety has been around for a while. Older generations telling younger generations not to worry—to just not have debt, or to just invest, or to stick to a strict saving strategy—are missing the point. Millennials and Gen Z have been shown to be far less trusting of financial institutions, long-term savings strategies, and less optimistic about so-called milestones like retirement and buying real estate.
In other words: at tender ages, we were traumatized. We witnessed the consequences and the wreckage, buddy. And it was bad. And we don’t even know how much of a future we have, we just know that it won’t look the same as previous generations, even under the best of circumstances. The Death, Sex, and Money mini-series about the toll of student loan debt from several years ago still haunts me as one of the most difficult yet meaningful podcasts I’ve ever listened to.
We are not OK. And, U.S. economy, while you’re subject to lots of forces outside your control, this shit isn’t cute anymore.
This financial anxiety can be crippling. In fact, the 2008 recession sparked a movement towards addressing financial issues as a part of therapeutic practice. The Financial Therapeutic Association was literally founded to help those who worry so deeply about their own financial futures and planning that they require both therapeutic counseling in addition to financial advisement.
It’s smart, really. Our finances are not merely numbers on a screen, but inevitably intertwined with our sense of self-worth; our relationship to our partner(s) and family and children if we choose to have them; to our neighbors, etc.
Money is, like emotions, hopelessly intertwined both everything and nothing. And you, economy, lately seemed to be intertwined with everything and nothing.
So why write this silly imaginary letter? Because I am tired. I am tired of best-laid planning for a future that seems harder and harder to envision fully. I am tired of seemingly random predictions about what I can or can’t afford. As with all things post-COVID, would a little certainty hurt us?
Thanks for your time, but if you do reply and want to hear from me again, I WILL require a self-addressed stamped envelope. Even the cost of postage is killing me these days.
xoxo, your nervous wreck, Sarah