📊📰Tariff-driven panic buying creates misleading economic growth data

On July 30, 2025, major news outlets reported contradictory stories about the same economic data. The Washington Post declared "U.S. economy posts strong second quarter, growing at a 3 percent pace," while The New York Times reported "U.S. Economic Growth Softened in First Half of the Year," noting that "Tariffs and uncertainty upended business plans and scrambled consumers' spending decisions." This confusion stems from tariff-driven stockpiling that artificially inflated Q2 GDP while masking underlying economic weakness. The Penn Wharton Budget Model had predicted exactly this statistical manipulation, where panic buying creates temporary growth that reverses once inventory buffers disappear.