Brandon Parsons Offers Insight on Market Plunge Amid Trade War Escalation

As the U.S.-China trade war intensifies, ABC 7 Eyewitness News featured insights from economist and Pepperdine Graziadio faculty member Brandon Parsons in a segment unpacking the steep stock market decline and its impact on American retirement accounts.

Following China’s announcement of 34% retaliatory tariffs on U.S. imports, markets took their sharpest dive since the early days of the pandemic. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell warned that the economic effects—higher inflation and slower growth—may be greater than anticipated.

Parsons explained, “Given what we know about how consumers respond to higher prices and how businesses respond to higher costs, we can look steps ahead—and we’re seeing the stock market and business react to this right now.”

His commentary helped contextualize tariff policy's real-time consequences on investors and businesses, especially as new data shows California could be among the hardest hit.

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