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nytimes.com - Transcript ezra klein interviews annie lowrey

{{ In February of 2020, there’s this big piece on what they call “the great affordability crisis.” And the point the piece makes is that a lot is looking good in the economy — unemployment is down, wages are rising, people are feeling good. But if you look at the things people really need, housing, health care, education, child care, costs have just exploded. Quote, “The spiraling cost of living has become a central facet of American economic life.” }}

And those costs have exploded due to "rent seeking" behavior by Private Equity, Corporate Executives, Real Estate Brokers, Health Insurers, etc. Excess gains accruing to the Top 5% by strip mining the middle class with price gouging, and other anti-competitive behaviors.

Tax policy that punishes wage & salary earners while favoring investment income and inherited wealth, plus a lack of antitrust enforcement to address the price gouging, is the source of the problem

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