Source: GlobalData
Influencers sound alarm on US recession driven by tariff-induced economic turmoil, reveals GlobalData
Posted in Business Fundamentals
In April 2025, discussions surrounding the recession topic on social media increased by nearly 70% compared to the previous month, driven by growing concerns over economic instability. This marked the highest level of discourse since January 2025, reflecting heightened public anxiety regarding the state of the economy, while influencer sentiment on the topic declined by 25% in April compared to the prior month, reveals the Social Media Analytics Platform of GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company.
A key factor fueling this surge in discussions was the imposition of substantial US tariffs under the Trump administration, which drew parallels to the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act of 1930, often linked to the onset of the Great Depression. Influencers cautioned that these tariffs, among the highest imposed since the 1920s, could lead to inflation, reduced consumer spending, and weakened global competitiveness, thereby increasing the risk of a recession.
Shreyasee Majumder, Social Media Analyst at GlobalData, comments: “Influencers characterized the tariffs as a detrimental policy destabilizing the economy, increasing risks of stagflation or recession. They emphasized the uncertainty surrounding the tariffs’ duration, warning that prolonged enforcement could entrench economic downturn risks. Their discourse, conveyed with urgency, condemned the tariffs as reckless, forecasting severe recessionary or depression-like consequences. Influencers stressed on the tariffs’ immediate adverse effects, global trade implications, and disruption of prior economic stability as driving the recession narrative.”
Below are a few popular influencer opinions captured by GlobalData’s Social Media Analytics Platform:
“Ultimately US consumers will end up paying for these tariffs. US will face massive inflation and crash of consumer confidence. Recession is certain.”
“I joined @kcalnews to explain why President Trump’s tariffs are a tax on American households—not a “liberation.” They’re set to raise costs, squeeze supply chains, and risk triggering the first White House-induced recession in the postwar era.”
“This has probably been the least successful first hundred days of a presidency @realDonaldTrump on the economy in the last century. We have seen the stock market go down, the dollar go down, forecasts of unemployment go up, forecasts of inflation go up, forecasts on the odds of a recession go up. We’ve seen consumer confidence collapse. We’ve seen businesses take back all their previous earnings projections. So, this has been a disastrous hundred days for the US economy.”
“What remains astonishing is that this isn’t a “natural” recession. There’s no cyclical slowdown or housing bubble. Consumers were holding up okay. This is about one man choosing to crash the economy because of a dumb idea, and 273 of his party’s lawmakers letting him do it.”
“He inherited the fast growing economy in the western world, with one of the lowest unemployment rates, and he is now ‘fixing’ it by ushering in a global trade war and possible recession.”
“US tariffs ‘will push UK, Europe and Asia into recession’ Economists rip up forecasts for global growth as the White House increases average tariffs from 2.5% to 25% … highest since the 1920s …”