The ‘affordability’ delusion: Politicians promise to solve economic problems over which they have no control, while refusing to address economic problems over which they do

Spectator World ^ | 11/27/2025 | Lionel Shriver

[asinclair]

I wonder if we will go back to the days when the Department of Agriculture buys food product ‘overstock’ from farmers, then makes that stock available to low-income people?

[Organic Panic]

When I was growing up my friend’s family was given real government cheese. I didn’t know anything about it. They got huge bricks of cheese, butter, and big tins of grains which his mum had to grind for making bread. They used actual “stamps” which she could use to buy produce.

Now. Trash people get thousands to buy garbage they don’t even have to cook. When there is an “EBT welcome” sign for fast food at 7-11 we are f’d.s

[jroehl]

It would be nice if we could all get our jobs back from the millions of H-1B Indians Washington has brought in. AND it would go a long way to solving homeless problems. But the tech bros all need 300 foot yachts now, so there is that.

[fruser1]

price of housing - on which a third of Americans spend more than 30 percent of their income

You will likely find a larger percentage going to taxes.

[Brian Griffin]

“location, location, location”

That was said about real estate since I sat in a high chair.

[Brian Griffin]

In 1981 I subscribed to the New York Times.

One could buy a place in Manhattan for $40K and pay maintenance fees as high as rent in Northern Virginia.

[Brian Griffin]

“on which a third of Americans spend more than 30 percent of their income”

Take a look around Pimmit Hills and Wheaton to see where that got you.

[Brian Griffin]

A considerable percentage of food in a supermarket is sold somewhat above cost.

The junk food and luxury food & drink subsidies the sale of the healthy, cheap food.

[MinorityRepublican]

Thus Mamdani rightly campaigned on lowering exorbitant housing costs, though his proposal to freeze rents of apartments over which the city exerts control would only make private rents even stiffer.

NYC was always going to be expensive, no matter what. There are 8 billion people in the world. But only 8 million people can live in NYC.

[Brian Griffin]

Let us say a rental complex needs an average of $1500/month/unit in rent to cover its costs.

If half the units are rented at $1100/month to meet affordable housing mandates, the others would have to average $1700/month.

[Brian Griffin]

“only 8 million people can live in NYC.”

It’s zoned for about 16 million, but few would care to pay the cost of a new place in the South Bronx with their own money.

Asking the yuppies to pay 1.4 times the cost is a further stretch.

[Brian Griffin]

Imagine 16 million in the city.

Unless the number of affluent and rich are doubled, the welfare per NYC recipient would have to be cut if poor folks get access to lots of the new places.

And if the price of housing drops each year, the affluent won’t want to buy in but be/remain renters. They’ll be able to bolt easily if taxes get increased.

[MinorityRepublican]

It’s zoned for about 16 million

8 million.

16 million?

My point remains the same.

NYC is an extremely desirable place to live.

The law of supply and demand.

Of course, it's going to be expensive.

[9YearLurker]

Inflation ain’t 3%.

[SeekAndFind]

RE: Inflation ain’t 3%.

What, in your estimation is it?

[SeekAndFind]

RE: One could buy a place in Manhattan for $40K (1981)

And how much was the average Manhattan salary in 1981?

[9YearLurker]

https://www.shadowstats.com/alternate_data/inflation-charts

[SeekAndFind]

RE: The page you provided

The official CPI (Consumer Price Index) is published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) using modern methodologies that incorporate substitution effects, hedonic adjustments, and weighting changes.

The SGS-alternate CPI (from ShadowStats) estimates inflation using older methodologies from the 1980s and 1990s, which generally produce much higher inflation figures.

Economists overwhelmingly consider the official CPI the more accurate and credible measure of inflation, while the SGS-alternate CPI is viewed as a critique of methodological changes rather than a reliable indicator of “real” inflation.

So, SGS-Alternate CPI is Useful as a critique of CPI methodology changes. It Highlights how inflation would look if measured by older standards.

The official CPI is the anchor, while SGS can be used as a counterfactual stress test (what inflation would look like under older assumptions).

But the bottom line is this — We can quibble with which methodology we want to use all we like, but when it comes to the ordinary consumer, it is their COLLECTIVE feeling of well-being or otherwise in their purchase or the basic necessities that counts.

[9YearLurker]

They feel as they do and are falling behind as they are in part because of the rate of inflation, which is higher than what the government claims.

But the article is correct in essence. Only mass deportations can simultaneously increase real working wages and decrease brutal housing costs.