Ezra Klein

But imagine you did do Medicare for All. Imagine some future... They've got gets elected and wants to do something more like Medicare for all. If you gave the kind of highly expansive health insurance that Bernie Sanders's version of this envisions to every American, what you would have immediately is a supply crisis in medical care. We don't have enough doctors for that, not enough nurses.

But imagine you did do Medicare for All. Imagine some future... They've got gets elected and wants to do something more like Medicare for all. If you gave the kind of highly expansive health insurance that Bernie Sanders's version of this envisions to every American, what you would have immediately is a supply crisis in medical care. We don't have enough doctors for that, not enough nurses.

There are key areas where we don't have enough hospitals. You could very much have shortages of certain kinds of drugs. We just saw this with Ozempic in a certain way. You would need in order to do the kinds of things we want. to create the kind of equity and possibility and social insurance we want, you actually need the supply of the thing you're trying to give people.

There are key areas where we don't have enough hospitals. You could very much have shortages of certain kinds of drugs. We just saw this with Ozempic in a certain way. You would need in order to do the kinds of things we want. to create the kind of equity and possibility and social insurance we want, you actually need the supply of the thing you're trying to give people.

And so this connects, I think, in some ways to the left-wing agenda, but it also then connects, I think, to what you're talking about, the affordability crisis, a coined term by my lovely wife.

And so this connects, I think, in some ways to the left-wing agenda, but it also then connects, I think, to what you're talking about, the affordability crisis, a coined term by my lovely wife.

One of my like potted models of politics right now is we had a long period in American politics where what defined economic politics were problems of demand, wages, how many jobs we had. I mean, jobs day, right? Jobs day today was a big deal for a long time and still is. But the fundamental issue we had was an economy for a very long time and running at low demand.

One of my like potted models of politics right now is we had a long period in American politics where what defined economic politics were problems of demand, wages, how many jobs we had. I mean, jobs day, right? Jobs day today was a big deal for a long time and still is. But the fundamental issue we had was an economy for a very long time and running at low demand.

So in early 2020, my wife Anne Lowry at The Atlantic, a colleague with Derek, writes this big piece about the affordability crisis. And her sort of point there, this is early in 2020, a month before COVID hits, at least to our shores in a big way. She says, look, like behind this economy, people think is good.

So in early 2020, my wife Anne Lowry at The Atlantic, a colleague with Derek, writes this big piece about the affordability crisis. And her sort of point there, this is early in 2020, a month before COVID hits, at least to our shores in a big way. She says, look, like behind this economy, people think is good.

If you look at the core things people need to build their life on, housing, child care, elder care, health care and education. it's all getting really expensive and has been for a very, very long time. It's eating up more and more and more of people's budgets, even as they're getting these wage increases.

If you look at the core things people need to build their life on, housing, child care, elder care, health care and education. it's all getting really expensive and has been for a very, very long time. It's eating up more and more and more of people's budgets, even as they're getting these wage increases.

And you could sort of see this unusual divergence in the data between like an economy that looks good and people feel pretty good about as consumers, but they're really getting upset about this. And you can really see it beginning to stress their budgets. Then we go through the pandemic and then comes inflation. And when inflation is, it's like a saliency portal for prices.

And you could sort of see this unusual divergence in the data between like an economy that looks good and people feel pretty good about as consumers, but they're really getting upset about this. And you can really see it beginning to stress their budgets. Then we go through the pandemic and then comes inflation. And when inflation is, it's like a saliency portal for prices.

We go from all the attention on the economy being the demand side, wages and jobs, to all of it being on prices. And even as the price increases in consumer goods begin to slow down, what is then left is like everybody's been staring at prices for a long time. It's like, oh, shit, housing, health care, elder care, child care. This has all gone completely unaffordable.

We go from all the attention on the economy being the demand side, wages and jobs, to all of it being on prices. And even as the price increases in consumer goods begin to slow down, what is then left is like everybody's been staring at prices for a long time. It's like, oh, shit, housing, health care, elder care, child care. This has all gone completely unaffordable.

And energy has become a really big question in this, too, with Russia and decarbonization. And so I just think we're now in a period that the future is going to be defined on affordability. We are in a period where the big economic problem for a long time is going to be things people need the most of. We just don't have enough of them.

And energy has become a really big question in this, too, with Russia and decarbonization. And so I just think we're now in a period that the future is going to be defined on affordability. We are in a period where the big economic problem for a long time is going to be things people need the most of. We just don't have enough of them.

And I think it is actually pretty intuitive to people that you make something cheaper by making more of it. And I think one reason it is good for Democrats to admit this is that there is a political power in admitting your own mistakes. There is something that is unlocked, controversy, controversy, interest, and to some degree, credibility. Democratic states are losing people, not for no reason.

And I think it is actually pretty intuitive to people that you make something cheaper by making more of it. And I think one reason it is good for Democrats to admit this is that there is a political power in admitting your own mistakes. There is something that is unlocked, controversy, controversy, interest, and to some degree, credibility. Democratic states are losing people, not for no reason.