Donald Trump was swept into office in large part by popular anger over inflation under his predecessor Joe Biden. Now things have reversed. Democrats have seized on the theme of an affordability crisis, while Trump himself claims it’s a hoax.
If affordability means rising prices, then there is no question that things have improved since the post-Covid surge in which inflation hit the 8 percent mark, a level not seen since the beginning of the 1980s. Since then, it has slipped to around 3 percent. Yet the fall in inflation has by no means been a cure for economic uncertainty. The Covid-era gain in wages for workers lower down the economic ladder has ebbed; employment growth is anemic or nonexistent.
Housing in particular has become a pain point for the middle class. A period of historically low mortgage rates saw a run-up in house prices. The rates are now elevated, and prices have not fallen. New homebuyers can’t enter the market; homeowners who bought when rates are low cannot move. For many, traditional aspirations of homeownership feel ever further away.
Yet at the same time, key sectors of the economy—technology, especially—are booming. Unemployment remains low. And the markets are remarkably buoyant.
The sense that the middle class is drowning has become a focal point of political debate, and of public anger. But how much of that perception is grounded in reality—and how should policymakers respond? We asked five people we trust on such matters to discuss the question: Is there, in fact, an “affordability” crisis for America’s middle class? If so, what should be done about it?
