The American economy is not drifting. It is running headfirst into a wall and the passengers are just realizing the brakes are gone. Seventy percent of Americans say the economy is on the wrong track, but that doesn’t capture the full collapse in confidence. It is not just pessimism. It is paralysis. The job market did not grow last month. Moody’s confirmed zero net job growth in September, a flatline we have not seen since the COVID crash. The media points to seasonal adjustments or Fed policy, but the real story is simpler and scarier. The economy is no longer producing enough momentum to keep itself moving. The engine runs but the wheels do not turn.
“America saw no job growth last month… Moody’s Analytics said the economy added zero net jobs in September.” https://thehill.com/business/5542223-america-job-growth-moodys-prediction/
This is not a blip. It is showing up everywhere. Tech stocks swing one hundred billion dollars in a single session. Nasdaq dropped 4.2 percent in one day, erasing gains from the last quarter and triggering margin calls across retail brokerages. The last time markets moved like this, Pets.com was still trading.
“Dot-com fears rise as tech stocks see $100B swings… Nasdaq volatility highest since 2001.” https://archive.ph/hgj2p
The biggest collapse is in how people spend. Buy Now, Pay Later apps like Klarna and Affirm have trapped users in endless repayment cycles. Nearly forty percent have missed payments. Over half use one service to pay off another. This is not clever. It is desperation.
“Buy Now, Pay Later traps users in vortex of debt… 56% used one BNPL service to pay off another.” https://www.nytimes.com/2025/10/07/magazine/buy-now-pay-later-klarna-affirm-shopping.html?unlocked_article_code=1.rk8.DgoN.N7sznwpz6-Bi
Stacking short-term loans just to buy groceries is already a sign of collapse. When apps, ads, and checkout screens normalize it, the failure is being monetized.
If job growth stays flat, if tech volatility continues, and if BNPL defaults rise, the crisis will hit on three fronts: labor stagnation, asset instability, and consumer insolvency. Each one feeds the others. No one is acting fast enough.
The Fed keeps signaling rate hikes. Congress is stuck in shutdown fights. The White House talks about resilience while the ground crumbles. This is not politics. It is structural. The institutions meant to manage risk are now making it worse.
The numbers are broken. If they stay that way, the next crash will not look like 2008 or 2020. It will be something new, built on denial, silence, and the slow decay of economic gravity.