One thing I wonder is if the Trump/MAGA folks have not perhaps miscalculated in thinking that no one will very much mind when they 'downshift' the US economy to be more like Hungary or Russia.
Crucially, Hungary and Russia's economies never ran well, even before their current regimes.
Crucially, Hungary and Russia's economies never ran well, even before their current regimes.
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(And then the wheels fell off, but it was an interesting ride.)
And strong men create good times. There's never ever been any other result.
Q.E.D.
There's a cost for running that kind of economics.
By contrast, I think the 'downshift' in the USA might be a lot sharper?
And losing the wealth and comfort the US currently enjoys is going to create a lot resentment.
If that breaks, I think people are going to notice and I don't think the MAGA GOP is prepared for the incandescent anger that will result.
Which makes any sharp downturn in wealth hugely impactful.
I’m not confident they’re wrong.
So very useful.
The median income in the USA is the second highest in the OECD, fully double the median in Japan, 3 times that in Hungary.
That being said we are still prosperous because we also have a lot of highly efficient silent workhorses across a lot of industries.
So yes, there's huge inequality between states and within states, but poor US states would be rich European countries.
'Lets create a very motivated constituency around hating us' - bad plan.)
They have an ideological prior that states all government employees are useless and incompetent.
(Though I guess _usually_ it was unemployed soldiers, not non-combatants.)
And imagine the rage that the elderly, veterans, scientists, school teachers, hospital staff, natsec officers, and students will feel as the good life is yanked.
Those groups don’t even have a CEO to grovel at trump’s feet.
Because Hungary is so poor, it is heavily subsidized by EU.
The United States has a per-capita GDP of ~$81,000.
Canada has a per-capita GDP of ~$54,000.
Hungary has a per-capita GDP of ~$22,000.
Mexico has a per-capita GDP of ~$14,000.
Russia has a per-capita GDP of ~$14,000.
(Using UN numbers here)