Jerome Powell came in hot yesterday, as central bankers go: Flatlining job growth is \u201cwhat the economy needs\u201d given \u201cnonexistent growth in the labor force, which we\u2019ve never had in our history,\u201d he said yesterday. \u201cThat is balance [but] not a really comfortable balance.\u201d<\/p>\n
It was a remarkable acknowledgement that the world\u2019s biggest economy is in uncharted territory. Big demographic shifts \u2014 an immigration crackdown and declining birth rates \u2014 have stalled the traditional engine of \u201cmore people, more output.\u201d<\/p>\n
The US economy is still growing. But if America was a company, it would be a \u201clifestyle business,\u201d a specific corporate burn<\/a> that describes a company that exists to sustain its owners rather than to conquer a market. Lifestyle companies aren\u2019t managed for growth. They don\u2019t scale; they just are, making enough money to cover an owner\u2019s costs and maybe mail it in on Fridays.<\/p>\n If the US is no longer growing its headcount, it\u2019s running the country for the benefit of the existing shareholders \u2014 the current workforce and asset owners \u2014 rather than building for a more ambitious future.<\/p>\n