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, 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, prices are rising at a much slower pace. 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.
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 that 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.
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If you move to a Red State, for God’s sake. DON’T BRING YOUR EVIL RADICAL LEFT-WING PROGRESSIVE SOCIALIST ACTIVIST COMMUNIST AGENDA AND AMERICA-HATING INSANITY WITH YOU.
IF YOU VOTED DEMORAT IN YOUR BLUE STATE, STAY THERE AND ENJOY THE MISERY YOU HELPED CREATE. DON’T BRING IT TO ANY RED STATE.
Signed,
We the People
The low-cost states listed are generally states that have the lowest average incomes and are rated near the bottom for most aspects of “quality of life.” Real estate prices and salaries/wages are both near the lowest in the country. Louisiana and Arkansas are not especially “red” either. As for the high-cost states, they are indeed all “ultraviolet” blue and have very high taxes, energy prices, real estate prices, etc. But they also have higher average salaries/wages and are rated at least in the “second quintile” in “quality of life” surveys. Another factor not taken into account is urbanization — major metro areas are ultraviolet even in fairly red states; rural areas tend to be redder even in blue states.
I guess Louisiana is cheaper except for car in surance.
The problem is people moving from red states to blue states will still vote Democrat. This could ruin our Blue States; they have no common sense.
Most people don’t drink coffee, they drink specialty drinks that may contain some coffee. You can buy a pound of whole bean coffee even at Starbuck for $14 dollars – that’s outrageous but I drink coffee all day and a pound last me 2 weeks. That’s a dollar a day. If you drink K-cups you’ll use 4 a day and spend around $2.20 a day – and there’s no reason you can’t use the same 4 K-cup twice. So grind the beans and cook you’re own and save.
Dems not allowed
By “smart people” you mean those who know how to get their wants and needs fulfilled by the government instead of actually working for them.
Ok richer. God no wonder the French gave you people ropes lol you sound like you tell people to avoid hurricanes by moving to the 2nd mansion.