Axios: Average Household Will Lose $3,800 in Purchasing Power Over Tariffs

Brett T. | 5:30 PM on April 07, 2025

Back in 2022, President Joe Biden stood in front of a "Lowering Costs for Families" sign. "We're in a situation now where you should have peace of mind," he said. Remember how much more it was going to cost American families to live because of out-of-control inflation?

Well, forget all that, because according to Axios, a study from Yale's Budge Lab says that President Donald Trump's tariffs are going to cost the average U.S. household $3,800 in purchasing power.

The average US household will lose an estimated $3,800 in purchasing power as a result of this year's tariffs, according to Yale's Budget Lab.https://t.co/mGdX8wb0jM
— Axios (@axios) April 7, 2025

Axios reports:

By the numbers: The lowest income households could see their disposable income fall by as much as 5.5%, in a scenario of 20% across-the-board tariffs where other countries retaliate with levies of their own, per an analysis from the Yale Budget Lab.
For the highest-income households, that drop is just 2.1%.
…
The bottom line: Ouch.

Axios says in its X bio that it provides "Smart Brevity" worthy of people's time. We don't know as "Ouch" counting as smart brevity.

Now do Biden's inflation.

Did my purchasing power go up or down with his 21% inflation? I am bad at economics, so it would really help if you explained it to me like I was an Axios writer.
— Pacheco the Ghost (@PMtalking) April 7, 2025

Funny how you didn't post Yale Budget Lab analyses during the Biden Administration.
— Usually Right (@normouspenis) April 7, 2025

Does it matter that Ivy League schools are now having to teach remedial math?
— 9 Lives Cat (@4_Red_White_Blu) April 7, 2025

These hypothetical models are worse than useless — they're pure fictions meant to frighten people and push a doomed and dangerous political agenda. And most people aren't buying it anymore.
— Willem F. Thayer (@WillemFThayer) April 7, 2025