Remember, in last year’s presidential campaign, the word we kept hearing was “Weird.” Part of the Democrats’ campaign strategy against the Republican ticket, the term gained such wide traction that it was later named one of Merriam-Webster’s words of the year for 2024. Now they’re back again with a new word. “Affordability.” Republicans have even joined in its use.

Zohran Mamdani won the New York City mayoralty race, decrying the absence of “affordability.” Donald Trump now claims he’s close to bagging the elusive “Affordability.” Both major parties now plan their 2026 election strategies on convincing the nation they’re the ones to deliver “affordability.”

The remedies offered by both sides sound more like comedy routines than solutions, but the laugh is on us. You don’t have to have a PHD. in economics to realize some simple facts. If prices remain high and continue to rise, it indicates an excessive demand chasing a limited supply. We quaintly call this the “Law of supply and demand.” The high price of anything is a signal to the market to produce more.

The Federal Reserve can reduce the supply of dollars, or the government can raise taxes to a point where there is less money available for spending, and the likely resulting slower business conditions lead to reduced demand. That path is painful for voters, so neither party advocates those policies.  

That leaves increasing supply. The Trump administration aims to return to the reduced regulation and favorable business tax policies that were effective during the first term of the Trump presidency. These policies are classic supply-side economics. Don’t get in the way of the market. High prices, if left uninterfered with, will attract capital and innovation, filling the gap.