The buzzword of the month is "affordability," and based on the election results from New York, New Jersey, and Virginia, voters think that's declining. Democrats think they've found a winning issue here to win back the hearts and minds of voters after the Trump sweep last year.
It's true that people are angry about prices. Steaks and hamburgers are more expensive than ever. So are coffee and rents, and medical care. Many Americans are about to see a 10%-20% increase in their health care premiums starting in January.
But who's to blame? President Donald Trump said he would bring prices down; that hasn't happened. His tariffs have nudged up prices on certain products like coffee and cars. But since Trump came into office in January, the inflation rate has fallen. If we go back to the start of COVID-19, we find that much of the rise in prices of everything you buy is because of Biden inflation, not Trump inflation. The average inflation rate in Trump's first term was 2%. In former President Joe Biden's four-year term, it was 5%, and under Trump so far this year, it's 3%.
It's important to remember WHY inflation soared to a high of 9% under Biden. He launched a $4 trillion spending spree (remember Build Back Better?), and that was all paid for by printing and borrowing money, which caused inflation to spike.
It's ironic that Democrats have picked up on the affordability theme, because we know that in states where Democrats rule, inflation tends to spiral out of control. In terms of cost of living, blue states are lots more expensive, and red states are more affordable.
The U.S. News & World Report ratings show nine of the 10 most expensive states are either blue or purple states. New Hampshire is the one outlier. Meanwhile, all 10 of the lowest-cost states are run by Republicans.
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Some of the states with the lowest cost of living are the poorest and most rural states, such as Mississippi and Arkansas. And the richest states, such as Massachusetts and California, are among the highest-cost states.
Five Lowest-Cost States
-- Arkansas
-- South Dakota
-- Mississippi
-- Oklahoma
-- Louisiana
Five Highest-Cost States
-- California
-- New York
-- Massachusetts
-- Illinois
-- New Jersey
But blue states tend to have higher costs, not just because they are richer.
It's because liberal policies raise costs. Blue states have higher taxes, and some of those costs get passed on to consumers. The states with the highest income tax -- California, New York, and New Jersey -- are all at the top of the list of most expensive states.
Blue states are more likely to have high minimum wage requirements, higher energy costs due to expensive "green" renewable energy mandates, stricter forced union policies, and high-cost regulations that restrict new housing, which raises the cost of buying a home in these areas. Gas is as much as $1 a gallon more expensive in blue states, partly because states like California and New Jersey have onerous regulations and less oil and gas infrastructure.
Electricity costs are on average twice as high in states like California, Connecticut, Rhode Island, and Washington because of their climate change policies that restrict cheap energy that is commonplace in states like Texas and Utah.
These are just a few examples of how Democratic politicians make products more, not less, expensive. It turns out the panoply of progressive "feel-good" policies is what makes consumers feel angry and financially stressed out.
Middle-class consumers pay a high price for progressive and anti-business policies in the state capitals.
So if you're in search of lower prices and want to make your paycheck go further, one failsafe strategy is to move to a conservative place with free-market policies. Suddenly, you will see that everything is a lot more "affordable."
Stephen Moore is a former Trump senior economic adviser and the cofounder of Unleash Prosperity, which advocates for education freedom for all children.
Editor’s Note: Thanks to President Trump’s leadership and bold policies, America’s economy is back on track.
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