Colorado Economist Analyzes Impact of General Strikes

Expert explains how strikes can affect the economy and drive change

Jan. 30, 2026 at 7:07pm

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A University of Colorado Denver economist discusses the potential impact of recent general strikes across the United States, including how they can affect the economy and drive change. The expert analyzes the difference between shiftable consumption of durable goods versus non-shiftable consumption of services, and explains that strikes may have a bigger impact on small businesses and service industries.

Why it matters

General strikes are a form of protest that aim to disrupt the economy and pressure decision-makers. Understanding how these actions can impact the economy is important for evaluating their effectiveness as a tool for driving change.

The details

Michael Orlando, an economist at the University of Colorado Denver, argues that the effectiveness of a general strike depends on the end goal. He explains that strikes can affect the economy differently depending on whether people are cutting back on durable goods purchases, which can be shifted in time, versus services, which account for about 50% of GDP. Strikes may have a bigger impact on small businesses with thinner profit margins, but could also lead to an increase in customers in the long run as businesses are forced to take a stance. Orlando says a sustained strike lasting a month and reducing consumption by 10% could potentially shave 10 basis points off annual GDP growth, but notes that the primary measure of success is not the economic impact but the "signaling opportunity" to highlight consumer and voter demands.

  • The general strikes across the U.S. were observed on Friday.

The players

Michael Orlando

An economist who teaches Corporate Finance and Political Risks at the University of Colorado Denver's J.P. Morgan Center for Commodities. He is a former Federal Reserve Research Economist.

University of Colorado Denver

The institution where Michael Orlando is a professor in the Business School's J.P. Morgan Center for Commodities.

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What they’re saying

“Ultimately, I think one of the interesting things, or the important things to consider when you're trying to aggregate this up and contemplate how it can work, is the difference between shiftable consumption and non-shiftable consumption. Specifically, service consumption versus goods consumption.”

— Michael Orlando, Economist (CBS Colorado)

“Seventy percent of the economy is consumption, and 70% of that consumption is services. If I shift my haircuts, or I shift my cups of coffee, it's not like I go to Starbucks on Monday morning and drink three cups of coffee because I didn't consume some.”

— Michael Orlando, Economist (CBS Colorado)

“Kind of the way COVID put this divot in the economy that we have to suffer with forever. It just pushed all consumption off into the future.”

— Michael Orlando, Economist (CBS Colorado)

The takeaway

General strikes can have a significant impact on the economy, particularly by disrupting service-based consumption which accounts for a large portion of GDP. While the economic impact may be limited, strikes serve as "signaling opportunities" to highlight consumer and voter demands, which can ultimately drive change through political and market pressures.