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Chair Schweikert warns population trends could limit U.S. economic growth
Summary
At a Joint Economic Committee hearing, Chair Schweikert said demographic shifts — including very low fertility and minimal population growth — are a central fragility for economic growth, citing preliminary annual population growth of about 400,000 and a fertility rate of 1.59.
Chair Schweikert opened a Joint Economic Committee hearing by saying the panel is trying to craft "a unified theory of economic growth" that ranges from regulatory reform and technology adoption to workforce development.
"The one fragility ... is population and skill sets within the economy," Schweikert said, arguing that demographic factors are as important as regulatory and technological policies for long-term growth.
He cited preliminary population figures, saying "preliminary numbers have us growing only about 400,000 population" and warned that the country this year was "pretty close to zero population growth." Schweikert also highlighted the age imbalance: "we functionally have the same number of 18-year-olds as we had 20 years ago, but double those 65 and up," and said many of the most skilled workers are moving into retirement.
Framing the policy challenge in terms of immigration and workforce strategy, Schweikert asked what "the future of immigration, population, talent" systems should look like to "maximize economic vitality and growth" given low fertility — he cited a fertility rate of 1.59 — and the Census outlook.
He cautioned that public discussion of these trends is often misleading: "It is often like dancing on a minefield because of a misrepresentation and how many things are just not true about U.S. demographics," he said, then welcomed the witnesses and noted he had only minutes to review their testimonies.
The hearing transcript ends as Schweikert begins to introduce a senator to speak. No votes or formal committee actions were recorded in the provided transcript segment.
