If you are holding onto your aging printer or cracked smartphone longer than you had planned, you are not alone.

Heather Mitchell, 69, retired and living in Tucson, Arizona, is content with her phone even though it is old by smartphone standards.

“My Samsung Galaxy A71 is six-years-old. It’s hanging in there surprisingly well for a jalopy. I’ve had issues with it, and still do, but they are minor,” said Mitchell. “I love Samsung phones, but can not afford a new one right now. A new phone would be a luxury.”

The average American now holds onto their smartphone for 29 months, according to a recent survey by Reviews.org, and that cycle is getting longer. The average was around 22 months in 2016.

While squeezing as much life out of your device as possible may save money in the short run, especially amid widespread fears about the strength of the consumer and job market, it might cost the economy in the long run, especially when device hoarding occurs at the level of corporations.

Research released by the Federal Reserve last month concludes that each additional year companies delay upgrading equipment results in a productivity decline of about one-third of a percent, with investment patterns accounting for approximately 55% of productivity gaps between advanced economies. The good news: businesses in the U.S. are generally quicker to reinvest in replacing aging equipment. The Federal Reserve report shows that if European productivity had matched U.S. investment patterns starting in 2000, the productivity gap between the U.S and European economic heavyweights would have been reduced by 29 percent for the U.K., 35 percent for France, and 101% for Germany.

Experts agree lost productivity and inefficiency are the unintended consequences of people and businesses clinging to aging technology.

“Think about how much internet speeds have changed in the past decade or more. In the 2010s, 100MB speeds were considered high speed and very good. A short 10 years later and we’re operating at 1GB speeds, which is roughly 10 times faster,” said Cassandra Cummings, CEO of New Jersey-based electronics design company Thomas Instrumentation. Operating at higher GB speeds requires different electronic hardware, and a lot of the older technology can’t handle it.

“Those devices were engineered when no one could fathom speeds that much faster would be mainstream,” Cummings said.

That can be a drain on nationwide networks as well.

“Both the cellular and internet infrastructure has to operate to be backwards compatible in order to support the older, slower devices. Networks often have to throttle back their speeds in order to accommodate the slowest device,” Cummings said. “Often entire sections of networks or company internal networks are running slower than they would if all devices were up to the newer standards,” she added.

Cummings doesn’t deny that staying up to date with new devices and hardware is expensive.

“Many companies, especially small businesses, and individual people can’t afford to constantly upgrade to the latest and greatest devices,” she said.

To ease the transition to new technologies, she says there should be designs that are repairable or modular rather than the constant purge and replace cycles. “So perhaps future devices can have a partial upgrade in say ethernet communications rather than forcing someone to purchase an entirely new computer or device,” Cummings said. “I’m not a fan of the throw-away culture we have these days. It may help the economy to spend more and force upgrades, but does it really help people who are already struggling to pay bills?” she said.

Indeed, entrepreneurs in the device resale market see the longer-lived tech as a success story that can be improved upon. Steven Athwal, CEO of the UK-based The Big Phone Store — which specializes in refurbished phones — says devices longevity is not the problem. “The issue is the lag. Businesses and individuals are trying to squeeze modern workloads out of old hardware, heavy processing, rendering, generation, and admin, and that creates a productivity drag. Things like slow processors, outdated software, and degraded batteries on older tech waste energy and morale,” Athwal said.

He adds that when people hold onto their phones or laptops for five or six years, the repair and refurbishment market becomes an active part of the economy. But right now, in both European, American, and global markets, too much of that happens in the shadows.

“It’s unregulated, underreported, and underutilized. If governments and big tech supported refurbishment properly, aging devices could become part of a sustainable circular economy,” Athwal said, improving the second-hand cycle by extending software support, improving access to parts, and treating repair as infrastructure.

“That’s how you disable constant replacement. No need to constantly push upgrades, which financially strains both small and large businesses alike,” Athwal said.

Still, some device manufacturers have found ways to entice consumers to ditch their older phones for newer ones. For instance, Apple just had one of its most successful new launches with the iPhone 17, and artificial intelligence could be a game-changer.

Najiba Benabess, dean of the business school at Neumann University, says rising prices and sustainability concerns are among reasons “America’s gadgets are aging out,” but the market should be focused on slowing productivity, increasing repair and maintenance expenses, and limited access to software updates and efficiency gains.

“Small businesses, in particular, lose valuable hours each year due to lagging systems, creating what economists call a ‘productivity drag,'” Benabess said. On a national scale, this translates to billions of dollars in lost output and reduced innovation. “While keeping devices longer may seem financially or environmentally responsible, the hidden cost is a quieter erosion of economic dynamism and competitiveness,” she added.

Most people still want the newest and most up-to-date phones and tablets, according to Jason Kornweiss, senior vice president of advisory services at Diversified, a global technology solutions provider, but research does show a widening gap between businesses and individuals when it comes to aging devices.

“Corporations with hundreds or thousands of people are not investing at the same rate,” Kornweiss said, adding that technology is changing so fast IT departments can’t keep up with the pace and that bloated corporations need to vet the newest technology, which takes time, and by the time they do the vetting, something new has arrived anyway. The result: businesses with increasingly long-in-the-tooth technology.

“Businesses establish shelf-life that is multi-year. Employees look at replacing devices within an organization as too tedious and people cringe when the IT department comes with a new device,” Kornweiss said, even when it is a meaningful upgrade, he added.

The price to the organization is then paid in lack of productivity, inability to multitask and innovate, and needless, additional hours of work that stack up. Workplace research conducted by Diversified last year found that 24% of employees work late or overtime due to aging technology issues, while 88% of employees report that inadequate workplace technology stifles innovation. Kornweiss says he doesn’t expect there’s been any improvement in those numbers over the past year.

There’s a disconnect between the numbers and behavior. Many workers report that aging devices stifle productivity, but like a favorite pair of shoes or an old sweater, they don’t want to give them up to learn the intricacies of a new device (which they’ll learn and then have to replace with another). Familiarity can trump productivity for many workers. But the result of that IT clinginess is felt in the bottom line.

“Productivity is hampered and it all has a tangible impact on the economics,” Kornweiss said.

The biggest commodity a worker has is time, he says, and older devices gobble that up. Bring-your-own-device (BYOD) policies can be a savior for businesses slow to upgrade, with individuals using their own more functional devices easily able to integrate into most workplace systems these days, Kornweiss said. Another option for companies that don’t want to buy a bunch of quickly dated devices is to lease.

Kornweiss sees a future where technology continues to advance at warp speed and companies will continue to have trouble keeping up. And individuals like Heather Mitchell will continue to hang on to their devices.

“I tend to hang onto my phone until I have no choice in the matter. In 26 years, this is only my fifth phone,” Mitchell said.

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But privately, many left that night wondering if the president really knows the score.

Tax cuts, deregulation and drill-baby-drill can do wonders to jolt growth, they all agreed.

Tariffs, not so much.

The president’s proposed solutions, they believe, are destined to fall flat.

It’s not all doom-and-gloom, of course, but the US economy is a far cry from the Reagan years of massive growth and low inflation, nor is there much evidence it’s heading in that direction.

More From Charles Gasparino

The president also appears unaware that the country’s biggest economic problem is that of affordability.

This is not just when it comes to homes, but persistently high inflation that is stoking voter anxiety according to every poll available.

At the Wednesday dinner, Trump predicted GDP growth of 6%, nearly double what it’s growing now.

More people working helps address the affordability problem, he argued.

Higher tax revenues combined with tariffs will help pay down the budget deficit and lower costs even more.

No one at the table — among them JPMorgan’s Jamie Dimon, Goldman Sachs’ David Solomon and BlackRock’s Larry Fink — spoke up at dinner with an opposing view, I am told.

But privately, the attendees were far less sanguine.

Those I spoke to believe based on all the data available, 6% GDP is a pipe dream.

Tariffs will depress growth because less of our products will be sold overseas by countries that retaliate.

Plus, inflation appears to be growing, not subsiding, again thanks to tariff costs.

The affordability crisis is real and whatever Trump is doing isn’t working thus far or the GOP wouldn’t have lost all those races two weeks ago.

Or as one told me: “Trump has some smart economic advisers, but a lot of yes men who simply tell him what he wants to hear,” adding: “I hope he’s right about 6% economic growth because he will need it.”

Fears aren’t a ‘con job’

Then there’s the “solutions” to affordability issues Trump has come up with.

He’s been floating ways to make home ownership more affordable like a 50-year mortgage, even as he beats up Fed chair Jerome Powell to lower interest rates.

The CEOs offered up their own solutions — mainly how to get average people buying more stocks.

That could cover their retirement costs and make owning a home easier since stock returns, historically, have outpaced most other investments.

I am told that Trump’s advisers know things aren’t so great, but to warn Trump that what he’s doing isn’t working is the fastest way to lose your job.

And Trump, of course, wouldn’t be the first president to govern in a bubble. 

Joe Biden convinced himself that the border was secure, inflation was low and he was sentient enough to run for a second term.

I can see how it’s difficult for anyone close to Trump to lend credence to the notion of a “crisis” of affordability because it appears to support the left’s agenda.

But Trump has called it a Dem “con job” and recently told my Fox colleague Laura Ingraham that the public’s economic anxiety is “fake.”

That won’t make it go away.

It also robs us of a chance for a serious debate on how to fix this economy.

Charlie Gasparino has his finger on the pulse of where business, politics and finance meet

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Tax increase on MAGA

That debate, unfortunately, didn’t happen the other night with Trump, though several of the CEOs later told me the 50-year mortgage will raise home prices, not lower them, because people can borrow more and spread mortgage payments out further.

It’s also a slight of hand, of course, since borrowers will be paying the bank more interest over a longer period of time and accumulating less equity.

Ditto for Trump’s obsession with cutting rates to lower the cost of home ownership.

What he doesn’t seem to recognize is that inflation at 3% is still well above the “target” rate and that’s on top of the massive increases that Biden’s policies led to.

Gas prices are going down, eggs cost less, but other stuff is costing more.

The culprit seems to be his tariffs, lower than first pitched during “Liberation Day” but still adding to price pressures.

Pushing Powell to lower rates in the face of persistent inflation will only make matters worse; inflation is a tax increase on the working class where it is felt the strongest since they can’t speculate their way around it.

It is a tax increase on MAGA.

Again, Trump believes he will soon produce results that will make voters true believers: factory jobs will return, lower gas prices will stifle inflation, a 50-year mortgage will re-invigorate the American Dream.

The GOP will cruise to majorities in the upcoming congressional midterms based on a Reaganesque economic boom.

Like the CEO I interviewed, I hope he’s right.

The evidence is starting to suggest that he’s not.

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As the peak holiday shopping season approaches, most U.S. consumers have a downbeat outlook on the economy, according to an annual Deloitte survey published on Wednesday.

Most consumers surveyed — 57% — said they expect the economy to weaken in the year ahead, the consulting firm found in a poll of roughly 4,000 respondents. That compares to 30% who expected a weaker economy ahead of the year-ago holiday season and 54% in 2008, one of the years of the Great Recession.

It marks the most negative economic outlook since Deloitte began tracking that in 1997.

Seventy-seven percent of people surveyed said they expect higher prices on holiday items, up from 69% last year, according to Deloitte. It’s the first holiday season since President Donald Trump’s latest wave of tariff hikes on many imports.

“We’ve been talking about the resilient consumer for a while now, that despite all these pressures, the U.S. consumer continues to spend and we keep seeing growth and spending for retail,” said Brian McCarthy, retail strategy leader for Deloitte. “This outlook is starting to suggest that we’re getting towards the end of that resilience.”

Consumers’ pessimistic mindset has factored into their spending plans during the holiday season. They plan to spend an average of $1,595, 10% less than the $1,778 they planned to spend in the year-ago period, as they brace for higher prices, according to the Deloitte survey.

The lower anticipated spending cuts across all household income groups and nearly all generations, Deloitte found. Yet it was especially significant among younger shoppers.

Gen Z consumers, which in the survey were between ages 18 and 28, said they plan to spend an average of 34% less this holiday season than a year ago. Millennials, respondents between age 29 and 44 in the poll, said they expect to spend an average of 13% less this holiday season.

That compares to Gen X, which plans to spend an average of 3% more, and Baby Boomers, who expect to spend an average of 6% less.

For Gen Z shoppers, the tighter holiday budget likely comes from feeling more uncertain and unstable early in their careers, McCarthy said.

“They’re thinking about income and the job market and the concerns about the economy is going to throw a lot more pressure on them because they haven’t yet had time to sort of build up their savings or plan for less rosy economic environments,” he said.

Mike Daher, U.S. consumer industry leader for Deloitte, said the age group is also “exposed to a lot of inflationary pressures around housing costs,” along with higher prices of everyday items like groceries.

For retailers and brands, the findings add a note of caution to the most crucial sales period of the year. Other holiday forecasts have also found households expect to spend less during the holidays, while still reflecting consumers’ appetite for decorating and giving gifts during the festive season.

Holiday spending across stores and online is expected to rise 4% year over year, according to consulting firm Bain & Co., a drop from the 10-year average of 5.2% growth. A separate Adobe Analytics report found online holiday spending in the U.S. is expected to grow 5.3% year over year, but that would be slower than the year-ago increase of 8.7% year over year.

Like Deloitte’s poll, consulting firm PwC’s survey indicated a holiday pullback among Gen Z consumers, who said they planned to spend 23% less than during the year-ago period. Overall, consumers said they expect to spend about 5% less – or an average total of $1,552 – on holiday gifts, travel and entertainment compared with the year-ago season, according to the PwC survey.

The National Retail Federation, the major industry trade group, plans to share its holiday forecast in early November.

Though holiday outlooks have varied, one of the dominant themes of this holiday season will be value-seeking, Deloitte’s McCarthy said. Even in the past several months, the firm has found a notable uptick in the number of U.S. consumers who have reported seeking deals. Across income groups, Deloitte’s survey indicated that seven in 10 respondents are engaging in three or more deal-seeking behaviors, such as purchasing store brands or alternative ingredients, cooking more meals at home and buying used cars.

As consumers watch their budgets, they told Deloitte they will cut back on holiday-related extras. On average, consumers said they plan to spend 22% less on non-gift holiday expenses, such as hosting, clothing and decor.

For gifts, however, the cut wasn’t as deep. On average, survey respondents said they plan to buy eight gifts compared to nine in the year-ago period and spend $536 compared to $505 in the prior-year holiday season.

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I’ll give you a hint. They bleed orange and blue and Dinosaur B-B-Q.

Last week, Syracuse University announced the launch of a new Center for the Creator Economy. The first academic hub of its kind on a U.S. college campus, this spanking new third space—fourth space? Fifth space?!—will “offer courses, [and] research and industry partnerships to prepare students for careers in digital content and entrepreneurship.” In other words? Get in, influencers. We’re going to college.

This isn’t your older sister’s Twitch, by the way. (Or, Reels? Vines?!) The bespoke center is aimed at a new class of professionally minded content creators, “from podcasters and streamers to influencers and digital artists.”

In their announcement, Syracuse cited a Goldman Sachs appraisal that has the creator economy approaching $500 billion by 2027. As one of very few American sectors on the uptick, it makes sense to jump on the heat. But questions remain.

A PEW report cited in the university’s press release suggests that most digital natives are already fluent in internet. (Two in five U.S. teenagers already earn income through digital channels.) So what can an influencer get out of a college degree? Especially if she’s been doing just dandy on her own?

As Francesca Aton at ARTNews reported Thursday, one answer is a blue check for the mind. Undergraduate and graduate classes in “creative content, audience engagement, and digital strategy” ought to help young entrepreneurs optimize their platforms.

There’s also the power of IRL networking. The center will host on-campus incubators, and provide avenues for mentorship—perhaps bringing the likes of Nara Smith into closer contact with her acolytes.

But the new program comes on the heels of some unsatisfying news for old fashioned students. Last week, Syracuse decided to halt admissions for 20 majors for the next academic year while the pertinent programs undergo an internal academic review.

Deans were instructed to review disputed majors given “nine-year enrollment data and financial metrics.” This task, and the stop work order itself, came down from Syracuse’s senate, where faculty input was not solicited.

On the chopping block are many humanities majors—like French, German, Italian, Russian, Classics, African American Literature, Latin-Latino American Studies, Middle Eastern Studies, Modern Jewish Studies, and Religion. Even a few you may have thought safe (Statistics, Chemistry, and Applied Math) are in the line of fire. And, of course, Fine Arts.

Students will still be able to take classes in these subjects while the major pause is in effect. But it’s hard not to see a pattern here. Today’s Latin lovers may fare better if they frame their esoteric interests as a podcast.

I don’t mean to pick on old Otto the Orange. Syracuse is hardly the only college to be openly panicking as they reconsidering their place in the culture. American universities themselves feel on a chopping block. Authoritarian pressure is mounting on colleges, big and small. And as sticker prices tick up, enrollment at many private liberal arts colleges is on the sharp decline.

It’s hard to picture how higher education will look in America in twenty years, that’s for sure. But I’ve got one guess. The future will be digital.

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China’s central bank cut interest rates and made it easier on Wednesday for banks to increase lending and pump more money into the economy, in the most significant policy steps taken by Chinese officials to limit the impact of the trade war with the United States.

The central bank, the People’s Bank of China, cut short-term interest rates and the amount of funds banks have to hold in reserve in a series of 10 measures. In a series of steps intended to keep the economy moving and people spending, Chinese officials removed restrictions on auto financing firms and freed up more money for banks to lend for various government priorities, including scientific and technological innovation.

At a briefing of top financial officials, Pan Gongsheng, the governor of the central bank, said it was carrying out a “moderately loose” monetary policy in the face of a global economy “full of uncertainties, with intensified economic fragmentation and trade tensions disrupting global industry and supply chains.”

The announcement, billed as policies to stabilize markets, came shortly after Washington and Beijing announced that top officials from the Trump administration will meet with Chinese counterparts this week during a trip to Geneva. This will mark the first formal meeting about trade between the two countries since President Trump raised tariffs on Chinese imports to 145 percent almost a month ago.

The move sparked a retaliatory response from Beijing, which lifted its own tariffs on American imports to 125 percent. The standoff between the two countries has brought global trade to its knees, jeopardizing the outlook for the world’s two largest economies and many other countries.

Last week, China reported a sharp monthly slowdown in manufacturing activity, dragged down by a plunge in new orders of goods for export.

The CSI 300, an index of large companies traded in Shanghai and Shenzhen, inched 0.3 percent higher after the announcement, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index gained 0.75 percent.

The impact of the measures announced Wednesday will be “positive but modest,” Capital Economics, a research firm, said in a note. The problem is that banks will be able to lend more money, but they might encounter lackluster demand from borrowers, the report said.

The Australian banking group ANZ said the support measures are a sign that the Chinese government is concerned about meeting its target of 5 percent economic growth in 2025. It said the announcement’s timing provides a “policy buffer” before the trade talks with the United States.

The central bank reduced its so-called reserve requirement ratio — the amount of money that the country’s commercial banks are required to hold as reserves — by half a percentage point, freeing up money that can be used for loans. This is expected to go into effect on May 15, according to state-owned media.

Beijing cut the ratio by half a percentage point in September as part of a package of measures to revive economic growth.

Mr. Pan, who had signaled in March that the central bank would take this step at some point during the year, said reducing the reserve ratio is expected to provide about $139 billion in long-term liquidity to the market.

The Chinese central bank also cut its benchmark seven-day interest rate to 1.4 percent from 1.5 percent, starting Thursday. It also lowered rates by a quarter point for a home buying program that offers more favorable mortgage rates than commercial loans.

Zixu Wang contributed reporting.

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