Stimulus-Fueled Savings Crash: Americans Torch $3 Trillion in 3 Years

Remember those pandemic stimulus checks? Turns out they burned hotter than a shitcoin rally—US households just vaporized $3 trillion in savings since 2022.

Where’d it go? Rent, groceries, and probably a few ill-advised crypto buys during the 2023 bull trap. Classic.

Wall Street analysts shrug: ’Consumers doing consumer things—until the next bailout drops.’

Spending outpaces growth as tariffs weigh down economy

March saw a sharp jump in consumer spending, rising 0.7% that month. People rushed to buy cars and trucks to dodge price hikes from import tariffs. In February, spending also ticked higher than previously thought, now sitting at 0.5%. That still wasn’t enough to change economists’ view that the economy is slowing.

The GDP report for the first quarter backed that up. It showed the US economy contracted by 0.3% on an annualized basis. Imports ballooned, weighing down overall growth. Justin Anderson, a senior economist at Capital Metrics, said, “What we’re seeing is people spending just to stay afloat while the economy offers no real footing.”

The Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) price index—a metric the Federal Reserve uses to track inflation—climbed 2.3% in the twelve months through March. That’s down from 2.7% in February. The Core PCE, which leaves out food and energy, stayed flat month-over-month. Over the year, it rose 2.6%, after a 3.0% rise in February.

President Donald Trump’s new tariff policies are expected to push prices even higher. Economists say this will likely trigger another inflation spike. Short-term inflation expectations among consumers just reached their highest levels since 1981.

Cryptopolitan Academy: Want to grow your money in 2025? Learn how to do it with DeFi in our upcoming webclass. Save Your Spot