The ‘affordability crisis’ myth

By Dr. Jimmy Lee Tillman II

We hear it everywhere: housing affordability crisis, health care affordability crisis, childcare affordability crisis.  The language is so common that we don’t stop to ask what it actually means — or what it conceals.

Here’s the problem: “affordability” isn’t a real thing you can fix.  It’s a word that makes concrete problems disappear into fog.

The Language Trick

Compare these two statements: “I can’t pay my rent because my wages haven’t kept up with costs.”  “There is an affordability crisis.”

The first one is clear.  You know what’s happening and why.  The second one?  All the critical details vanish.  Who raised the costs?  Why haven’t wages increased?  What’s actually preventing people from getting what they need?

The word “affordability” erases these questions.  And that’s useful if you want to look as though you’re solving problems without actually confronting what caused them.

Add “Crisis,” and Watch What Happens

Put “crisis” next to “affordability,” and you’ve got something powerful.  Crisis language demands immediate action, makes opposition look heartless, and permits emergency measures.  But what if calling it a crisis actually prevents us from seeing what’s really going on?

Take housing. Politicians declare a housing affordability crisis, but they rarely mention who benefits from zoning laws that restrict building, the permit processes that take 18 months, the environmental reviews that add years to every project, or the fees and requirements that add 20–30% to every new home.  Understanding these beneficiaries reveals the real barriers to affordable housing.

These aren’t mysterious market forces.  They’re deliberate rules that benefit particular groups: homeowners whose property values rise when new building gets blocked, industries that use regulations to keep out competition.

But call it an “affordability crisis,” and suddenly it sounds as though markets failed and we need subsidies or rent control.  The rules that made things expensive in the first place?  Nobody touches those.

A Clearer Way Forward

What if we asked different questions?  Instead of declaring an “affordability crisis,” ask, “Why does building a home require 247 permits?”  Which regulations actually improve safety, and which add cost?  What’s stopping people from building housing that others want to buy?

These questions have real answers.  They point to actual laws and concrete choices.  They suggest fixes: Drop unnecessary permits, speed up approvals, remove building restrictions, and cut mandates that help producers but hurt consumers.

But these questions require looking at the actual reasons things cost so much, even when those reasons are politically protected and challenging to change.  Recognizing the complexity helps us avoid oversimplified solutions and promotes honest debate.

What We Lose

When we buy the “affordability crisis” story, we stop asking why things cost what they cost.  We hand over power in exchange for a promise of lower costs — and often get neither.

This doesn’t mean ignoring people who are struggling.  When someone’s paying half his income for rent or facing impossible medical bills, that’s real hardship deserving real attention.  But sympathy doesn’t mean accepting bad explanations.  Bad explanations prevent real solutions.

We don’t have to ignore cost problems.  We need to be honest about what causes them.  Instead of vague “affordability,” talk about concrete barriers.  These problems can be solved, but the solutions mean questioning policies that benefit powerful groups right now.  That’s uncomfortable.  It’s easier to declare a crisis and demand that someone make things “affordable.”

But easier isn’t honest, and it sure isn’t effective.

Next time someone talks about an affordability crisis, ask, “What specific rules made this expensive?”  Who benefits from those rules?  What would happen if we just removed the barriers?

The answers might surprise you.  And they’ll point to something very different from another government program promising to fix “affordability” with your tax dollars.

This OpEd originally published in the American Thinker on November 29, 2025.