Each year, the Annoyance Economy costs American families at least $165 billion in wasted time and lost money — an amount greater than the GDP of 14 U.S. states — according to our calculations…
— from “Taking on the Annoyance Economy” by Chad Maisel and Neale Mahoney.
The statement quoted above needs some clarification. The Annoyance Economy does not cost each American family $165 billion a year. That’s the collective amount, if we add up what it costs all American families.
The cost to an individual American family is a much smaller amount. But still, it’s an amount.
You can download the entire 24-page ‘Taking on the American Economy” report by clicking this link.
I didn’t know we even had an Annoyance Economy until I read this report, although, living as I do in Pagosa Springs, Colorado, the “Annoyance Economy” label could easily be used as a substitute for the term, “Tourism Economy.”
But authors Chad Maisel and Neale Mahoney have a bigger concept in mind. Namely, taking on the entire American Capitalist Economy. Of which tourism is only a small (but annoying) part.
Chad Maisel seems to know a bit about the Annoyance Economy, which ought to help him with his work leading Project 2029, the Democrats’ response to the politically conservative Project 2025 that’s been guiding the Trump administration’s dismantling of the federal government (but unfortunately, not guiding the construction of the new White House ballroom, much to my disappointment.)
Neale Mahoney is director of the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research. For whatever that’s worth.
I personally would’ve liked to see the two of them focus on the Tourism Economy, but they seems smitten with other types of annoyances generated by American businesses.
In our land of plentiful pain points, there is no greater wellspring of annoyance than our country’s health care system. To purchase or select a new plan, you’ll need to learn new vocabulary — from deductible, coinsurance, and copayment to HMO, PPO, and HDHP — and good luck figuring out whether your doctor will be in-network.
Booking appointments or obtaining pre-authorization for a medical procedure? Get ready for phone calls, hold music, missed call-backs, and paperwork.
And then there’s billing, with confusing explanation-of-benefit letters, out-of-network charges, and facility fees for telehealth visits…
These smart guys seem to be talking about the painful ‘Enshittification’ of American businesses, which I discussed a few weeks ago in one of my columns.
When I was a kid, I naturally assumed that “progress” was happening all around me, and that my life would constantly improve and become ever-more joyful and fulfilling. By the time I graduated from college, however, I’d begun to have my doubts.
The doubts have all disappeared. Without a doubt, we are “progressing” down a rabbit hole where the people in charge are crying “Off with their heads!”
But slowly. Not like, they are cutting off our heads with an axe or a guillotine.
Instead, we are slowly being driven out of our minds. You don’t even notice it happening.
A few people, like Chad Maisel and Neale Mahoney, think we can “Take on the Annoyance Economy”.
The consequences of our Annoyance Economy extend beyond wasted time and money: When life is reduced to jumping through an endless series of hoops — just to fix a billing error, secure a refund, or cancel a subscription, it breeds cynicism and disengagement. If the government can remove even a few of those obstacles, we can show the American people that someone is paying attention and begin the long process of rebuilding public trust…
Obviously, they’ve already lost their minds.
Underrated writer Louis Cannon grew up in the vast American West, although his ex-wife, given the slightest opportunity, will deny that he ever grew up at all. You can read more stories on his Substack account.