The cost issue is important. Let's talk about it. It's real, and not easy to fix. And it's political malpractice to ignore. Policy decisions have driven up costs for groceries (mostly 6 trillion of COVID spending) and recently gas (Iran). Housing prices are also 50% higher in 5 years because of trillions in covid spending, spiraling regulations constraining supply, and tens-of-millions of illegals putting added pressure on the market. These are real problems, and they aren't a byproduct of the free market or innovation. People in charge made decisions that made this happen. They made the dollar less valuable. This hurts wage-earners without assets more than anyone else. The hardest part of this isn't identifying these problems- it's policy fixes. As a country we are unwilling, right and left, to tackle debt, and our economy has basically become a bet on AI enhancing productivity and wealth so much that none of this matters long term. That would be great. I think it's possible. But if it's wrong, we're in deep trouble as a society. And the Marxists will be ascendant.