How recession fears could impact Boston economy
What's happening on Wall Street has a direct impact on our local economy in Greater Boston, according to experts, with education, healthcare and technology-all taking the hit.
On Monday, Wall Street markets closed, clocking in their worst day of the year with the Dow falling nearly 1,000 points and today was the worst day for Nasdaq since 2022.
U.S. stocks tumbled after President Trump would not rule out a recession that investors worry could be triggered by his aggressive trade policies.
The very bad day on Wall Street comes at a time when every day people are already pinching pennies. The headlines were top of mind during rush hour at South Station.
"There's so many things that I'm upset about but in particular the stock market, it's crazy, it shouldn't be doing this right now," said Karen Carothers. "It's not good news, it's not good news for a lot of people. I personally feel fortunate, but I'm deeply troubled about what's happening to so many people who are experiencing the rise on food, the fear that's being caused by these tariffs."
"I'm worried about the tariffs," said George Arthur. "Income is fixed when commodities go up in terms of goods in the store, you're going to be paying the price."
Impact on education, healthcare, technology
And Greater Boston is paying the price. Experts say since it's in the crosshairs of education, healthcare, and technology, all three of those areas are getting affected by Monday's events.
So, we see job cuts like the Harvard hiring freeze and layoffs at Wayfair and Mass General Brigham again.
"For Boston it means a lot," said Larry Glazer, Managing Partner at Mayflower Advisories.
"There's an old expression on Wall Street when your neighbor loses their job it's a recession, when you lose your job, it's a depression right now for a lot of people it's got a recessionary feel and that's very uncomfortable because we haven't felt that in a long time," added Glazer.
Interest rates, gas prices
But there could be a silver lining with interest rates and energy prices expected to come down experts said.
"The silver lining is we could see lower mortgage rates as interest rates decline ahead of the spring housing season which is critically important," said Glazer. "Also, we're seeing lower gas prices ahead of the summer driving season so those could be the benefits that come out of all this volatility if we can just be patient."
In all of this, experts say for longer term investments, don't panic, have a plan, and take advantage of market declines because historically they've have always recovered.
