by Derrick A. Max
“Affordability” has become the most powerful word in modern politics – and nowhere more than here in Virginia. Candidates promised “affordable housing,” “affordable health care,” “affordable energy,” and “affordable childcare,” often without defining what affordability means or acknowledging the tradeoffs required to achieve it. Now in office, the progressives in the General Assembly have even crafted a slick video to show their commitment to the “affordability agenda.” No doubt, Governor-elect Abigail Spanberger will repeat the call for affordability frequently in her inaugural address tomorrow.
What is lost in this discussion is that from an economic perspective, affordability is not a universal outcome that can be mandated by law. It is a relative condition that always raises a critical question: affordable for whom, at what cost, and paid for by whom?
Consider the minimum wage. Raising it may increase take-home pay for some workers who keep their jobs, potentially making life more affordable for them. But economic reality does not allow higher wages to appear without consequence. Employers respond by cutting hours, reducing hiring, replacing workers with automation, or raising prices. For the worker who loses a job, affordability collapses entirely. For workers who get their hours cut back, affordability is cut. For low-income families facing higher prices at the grocery store, restaurant, or Walmart, affordability is reduced, not improved. The policy creates winners and losers, despite politicians speaking as if everyone wins. They don’t.
