Billionaires Will End The Affordability Crisis

There is a solution to the “affordability crisis” that does not require costly, odious government intervention. It’s called “free enterprise.”

Robert Weissberg | October 13, 2026

 “Affordability” is today’s hot issue. Though President Trump has addressed it, Democrats are in the forefront of ending this “crisis,” and central to their mission is greater government intervention. According to House Democratic Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, when his party gains control of the House, they will begin by creating working groups to lower the cost of housing, gas and utilities, groceries, caregiving, and health care. The party slogan is "never let a crisis go to waste," and Democrats see “affordability” as one more opportunity to expand state power.

To appreciate this foolishness of government-imposed affordability, consider how the federal government during WW II attempted to curtail inflation resulting from wartime shortages of consumer goods and soaring wages.

On August 28, 1941, President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s Executive Order created the Office of Price Administration (OPA) that fixed prices for automobiles, tires, shoes, fuel oil, meats, coffee, and processed food, and when war began, the OPA also set rents. Eventually, 90% of food prices were government-determined. All restaurants displayed signs listing government-dictated prices for each menu item while nearly all consumer goods were strictly rationed.

But as the war wound down, opposition to the OPA grew, and in 1947 it shut down, though some rules briefly continued under other agencies. Predictably, consumer prices increased, generally about 6%.

Might the OPA serve as Democrats’ template for our “affordability crisis”? Leaving aside whether draconian wartime measures would be tolerated today, attempting to revive OPA-like controls would face immense practical problems. Imagine setting the price of every pizza in every pizza parlor nationwide? Dozens of rules regarding size, toppings, take-out vs. sit-down, deep dish vs, thin crust and ingredient quality plus penalties for violations while hiring armies of inspectors........

© American Thinker