On Sunday, Allysia Finley’s column in The Wall Street Journal caught my eye. In “How Bidenomics May Cost Biden the Youth Vote,” Finley details how President Joe Biden’s policies have raised prices and how much these rising costs are particularly harming Americans under 45. Costs are rising across the board for critical goods and services that young people need but have limited resources to invest in, especially in housing.
A new Morning Consult report released on Monday echoed Finley’s analysis. While all Americans are broadly struggling with affordability “sticker shock” has been very prominent among Gen Zers.
Young people who are new to the job market have the least capital resources as they are still new to developing their finances and savings. But Biden’s inflation campaign is wreaking havoc on any gains they are making, and these studies show they are feeling this painful reality.
Policymaking matters. Priorities matter. The Biden administration as a whole has not been focused on consumer needs, and Americans are quite literally paying the price.
This misaligned focus is costing our future generations the most.
Biden’s tech agenda most clearly shows this problem. Competition across multiple sectors of the American tech industry is thriving, prices have been going down and consumers have more choice than ever when designing their digital experience. This should be championed as a beacon of light and hope for the world.
Instead, Biden and his regulators are colluding with foreign regulators to dismantle America’s position for the leading technology innovators. From antitrust to AI and digital trade, their policy choices are ignore consumer preferences, and they will set America back in favor of grabbing more power for the government and its preferred competitors, which have a financial stake in setting back their own competitors to get these policies enacted.
Biden’s proposed innovation restrictions, much like his other “successes,” will cause prices to go up even more. Experts have warned that efforts to change antitrust law in Congress and at Biden’s Federal Trade Commission and Department of Justice will fuel further inflation.
Americans, especially our young people who are just beginning to build their lives and their dreams, deserve better from policymakers. Our traditional light-touch, permissionless innovation approach has made the U.S. the number one place on the planet to “pursue happiness.” Biden and his regulators need to get out of the way and let that dream become a possibility again.