The U.S. working-age population is headed for a cliff, one that has become much steeper over the past year due, in part, to the Trump administration’s strict immigration policies.
The CBO report noted rising business adoption of artificial intelligence could help productivity stay afloat in the next decade. By 2036, output in the U.S. economy will be 1% higher than it would have been without the help of AI, a value add potentially worth several hundreds of billions of dollars, according to the report.
But the benefits of AI filling human vacancies and taking over economic growth can only go so far. For one thing, AI doesn’t pay taxes, and fewer people means a smaller taxpayer base. The CBO forecasts reduced net immigration owing to the Trump administration’s policies will lead to 5.3 million fewer people living in the U.S. a decade from now. Shrinking tax receipts will also stress the government’s budget, with actions taken on immigration during Trump’s first year back in office adding half a trillion dollars more to the federal deficit by 2035.
