'Affordability,' and the repercussions of the increasing global wealth gap

Summary

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Episode Overview

Podcast: Consider This from NPR
Episode: 'Affordability,' and the repercussions of the increasing global wealth gap
Date: November 9, 2025
Host: Sacha Pfeiffer
Guest: Joseph Stiglitz, Nobel Prize-winning economist, Columbia University

This episode explores the growing use of “affordability” as a political promise in American campaigns, its connection to the rising cost of living, and the deepening global wealth gap. Nobel laureate Joseph Stiglitz provides insight into the factors behind economic inequality and discusses potential solutions at both national and global levels.

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Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. “Affordability” as a Political Slogan

• Affordability emerged as a unifying campaign issue in the recent U.S. elections.
  • New York City's new mayor, Zahran Mamdani, and Virginia's governor-elect Abigail Spanberger both emphasized the rising cost of living in their platforms.
    • [00:00] Sacha Pfeiffer: “Ultimately, what I think binds us together is that shared belief that this is a city that should be affordable.”
• Politicians from both parties are recognizing the public’s acute concern with rising prices—especially for housing, healthcare, and energy.
• President Trump, in response, claims that “affordability” is a term fabricated by Democrats, asserting that prices have gone down under his administration.
  • [00:57] Donald Trump: “It’s no good if we do a great job and you don’t talk about it. ... They have this new word called affordability and they don’t talk about it enough. The Democrats did and the Democrats make it up because we took over a mess.”

2. Affordability and Systemic Inequality

• Voters' Concerns:
  • The sense of economic strain is widespread.
    • [03:34] Joseph Stiglitz: “Well, clearly voters are feeling strapped. They’re concerned about their standards of living. And when people talk about affordability, what they’re really talking about is can they make ends meet?”
  • In cities like New York, the housing crisis is central, but affordability encompasses food, transportation, and more.
    • [04:12] Joseph Stiglitz: “He talked about food, he talked about transport, all the things that make up for the cost of living. And Americans are just getting sticker shock, basically what they’re seeing.”
• Policy and Reality:
  • Despite political promises, costs continue to climb, and “sticker shock” is a shared experience.
  • Trade policies, such as tariffs, are criticized for worsening conditions, particularly for lower- and middle-income Americans.
    • [04:37] Joseph Stiglitz: “You promised us one thing, you didn’t solve it and you’ve actually made things worse are the tariffs... every economist says that a tariff is a sales tax.”

3. The U.S. Tax System and Wealth Inequality

• Tax Policy:
  • The current U.S. tax system disproportionately benefits the wealthy through breaks and loopholes.
    • [05:26] Joseph Stiglitz: “What we can mean by regressive, it was tax cuts for the billionaires, for the rich corporations, paid for by the people at the bottom, paid for by cutting back on Medicaid which provides health care for those who can’t afford it.”
  • Tax cuts enacted in recent years have deepened the wealth gap, with the bottom of society footing the bill for benefits given to the wealthy and big corporations.
• Political Impasse:
  • Ongoing government disagreements center around restoring social safety net provisions (like Medicaid and Affordable Care Act subsidies) that have been cut to "pay" for tax cuts.

4. Global Wealth Gap and Its Repercussions

• Global Context:
  • Wealth concentration is a worldwide phenomenon, not limited to the U.S.
    • [02:54] Sacha Pfeiffer: “Half the world’s population owns only 1% of its total wealth.”
  • A G20 study led by Stiglitz reveals:
    • [06:44] Joseph Stiglitz: “The top 1% gathered 41% of all the wealth that’s created in the last 25 years.”
• Impact on Politics and Society:
  • Extreme wealth concentration fuels political discontent and undermines confidence in public institutions.

5. Solutions to the Wealth Gap

• Changing the Rules:
  • Strengthen workers’ bargaining power and counteract corporate monopolies.
    • [07:10] Joseph Stiglitz: “First, we have to change the rules of the game to make things more equal. To get wages up, increase the bargaining power of workers, restrict the monopoly power of corporations.”
• Addressing Inherited Wealth:
  • Tighter regulations on inheritance and estate taxes to prevent the formation of a perpetuating plutocracy.
    • [07:10] Joseph Stiglitz: “One of the problems is we allow one generation to pass on their wealth to the next with very little taxation. ... That creates an inherited plutocracy.”
• Global Cooperation:
  • Stiglitz expresses cautious optimism about international efforts, noting the G20’s increasing focus on inequality.
    • [07:53] Joseph Stiglitz: “It’s clear that many Americans are waking up to what is happening. ... The leaders of these 20 major countries around the world ... the focus on inequality.”
  • The U.S. is not yet participating, but he anticipates eventual alignment if global consensus builds.
    • [08:28] Joseph Stiglitz: “But eventually, if there’s a global consensus, we will be forced, eventually, eventually to join the global consensus.”

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

On how voters are feeling:

• [03:34] Joseph Stiglitz: "Clearly voters are feeling strapped. They're concerned about their standards of living. And when people talk about affordability, what they're really talking about is can they make ends meet?"

On U.S. tax policy:

• [05:26] Joseph Stiglitz: “It was tax cuts for the billionaires, for the rich corporations, paid for by the people at the bottom, paid for by cutting back on Medicaid … We can’t afford giving money to the poor.”

On global inequality:

• [06:44] Joseph Stiglitz: “The top 1% gathered 41% of all the wealth that’s created in the last 25 years.”

On solutions:

• [07:10] Joseph Stiglitz: “First, we have to change the rules of the game to make things more equal … One of the problems is we allow one generation to pass on their wealth to the next with very little taxation. That creates an inherited plutocracy.”

On global action and potential U.S. participation:

• [08:28] Joseph Stiglitz: "But eventually, if there's a global consensus, we will be forced, eventually, eventually to join the global consensus."

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Timestamps for Important Segments

• 00:00-01:12 — Introduction: Political focus on affordability, campaign rhetoric
• 03:27-04:35 — Joseph Stiglitz on what “affordability” means to voters
• 05:06-06:39 — U.S. tax system’s role in wealth inequality
• 06:44-07:46 — Global wealth gap: Findings from the G20 study
• 07:10-08:54 — Solutions: Policy change, inheritance, global consensus, and optimism

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Summary & Takeaways

This episode of Consider This dissects the growing importance of “affordability” in U.S. politics as both a real economic concern and a potent campaign issue. With Nobel laureate Joseph Stiglitz as guest, the show lays out how systemic policy choices—particularly in tax structure and corporate regulation—drive growing income inequality in America and abroad. Stiglitz provides both diagnoses and prescriptions, addressing local and global strategies for fostering a more equitable society, while expressing tempered hope that international momentum may eventually pressure the U.S. to do more for economic justice.

Transcript

[Sacha Pfeiffer]

The word affordability got a lot of use by candidates in the lead up to last week's US elections, like New York City's 34 year old mayor elect Zahran Mamdani, a Democratic socialist. When he was campaigning, he focused relentlessly on how increasingly expensive New York has become. Ultimately, what I think binds us together is that shared belief that this is a city that should be affordable. And by building a tent around that affordability that that was in July when Mamdani spoke with Morning Edition's Layla Fadel. Since then, more and more politicians have been talking about the rising prices of seemingly everything. Virginia's Governor elect Abigail Spanberger centered her campaign on the high cost of living.

[NPR Announcer]

We have a lot of challenges facing our communities, whether it's challenges of affordability.

[Sacha Pfeiffer]

In housing, healthcare and energy. Meanwhile, affordability seems to have become a trigger word for President Trump. He says mini prices have come down since he was reelected.

[Donald Trump]

It's no good if we do a great job and you don't talk about it. And I don't think they talk about it enough. You know, they have this new word called affordability and they don't talk about it enough. The Democrats did and the Democrats make it up because we took over a mess.

[Sacha Pfeiffer]

Consider this Affordability has become a political promise and appears to be an effective campaign strategy. And it also summarizes a deep inequality affecting American lives. What would it take to close that divide? From npr, I'm Sacha Pfeiffer.

[NPR Announcer]

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[NPR Narrator]

There are tens of thousands of veterans behind bars in the US Often without any of the mental health services they may need.

[Joseph Stiglitz]

When you go to prison, you automatically lose your benefits. As a veteran, you become a war to the state.

[NPR Narrator]

How much do we owe these veterans who have fought our wars? Listen now to the Sunday story on the up first podcast from npr.

[Sacha Pfeiffer]

It's Consider this from NPR across The country voters are feeling squeezed by rising prices and inflation, while the wealthiest continue to pull way ahead. And Americans are not alone. Half the world's population owns only 1% of its total wealth. In other words, wealth has become extremely concentrated. What are the repercussions of the ever increasing wealth gap and what can be done about it? We're going to put that question to Nobel Prize winning economist Professor Joseph Stiglitz a of Columbia University. Professor Stiglitz, welcome to the show.

[Joseph Stiglitz]

Nice to be here.

[Sacha Pfeiffer]

When you look at the results of last week's US Elections, what message do you hear related to affordability?

[Joseph Stiglitz]

Well, clearly voters are feeling strapped. They're concerned about their standards of living. And when people talk about affordability, what they're really talking about can they make ends meet? It's their incomes. And in a place like New York, affordability has a lot to do with rents. And that's true in many other places around the country. But Mondani also talked about all the other key ingredients of affordability.

[Sacha Pfeiffer]

The new mayor of New York City, Zoran Mamdani, just elected.

[Joseph Stiglitz]

Yes. He talked about food, he talked about transport, all the things that make up for the cost of living. And Americans are just getting sticker shock, basically what they're seeing. In spite of President Trump promising that he was going to do something about affordability, things have gone exactly the opposite way.

[Sacha Pfeiffer]

And how do you think that's influencing how they vote?

[Joseph Stiglitz]

I think saying you promised us one thing, you didn't solve it and you've actually made things worse are the tariffs. And he won't admit it, but every economist say that a tariff is a sales tax. It's a tax on what you buy from abroad. And Americans buy a lot of things from abroad and especially lower income and middle income Americans.

[Sacha Pfeiffer]

The U.S. tax system allows many legal tax breaks and other provisions that primarily benefit wealthy and high income households. Many of those changes were put into place by the Trump administration. And the Trump administration continues to make some changes to the tax system that benefit the wealthy. What role do you think the US Tax system plays in the country's wealth gap?

[Joseph Stiglitz]

Oh, it's a very important role. In fact, what he called the big beautiful bill was analyzed even by the Republican controlled Congress and what's called the Congressional Budget Office. And they showed that it's probably, you know, the most regressive. And what we can mean by regressive, it was tax cuts for the billionaires, for the rich corporations, paid for by the people at the bottom, paid for by cutting back on Medicaid which provides health care for those who can't afford it. And that's what the government shutdown right now is all about. The Democrats say we insist on restoration of at least some of the Medicaid. We insist on making sure that the Affordable Care act, the Obamacare act subsidies aren't absolutely devastated. And the Republicans say, in effect, we gave a tax cut to the billionaires and the corporations and we can't afford giving money to the poor. I did a study that just came out for the G20.

[Sacha Pfeiffer]

This is the G20 leaders summit that will be held this month in South Africa. Brings together the world's largest economies.

[Joseph Stiglitz]

Yeah. And President Ramaphos Fosa asked me to do this study. And just to give you one example of the numbers that came out was the top 1% gathered, 41% of all the wealth that's created in the last 25 years. And obviously we're seeing now in America, especially what it's doing to our politics.

[Sacha Pfeiffer]

What do you consider the best ways to shrink the wealth gap?

[Joseph Stiglitz]

Well, there are three broad things to do. First, we have to change the rules of the game to make things more equal. To get wages up, increase the bargaining power of workers, restrict the monopoly power of corporations. So that's where the rules of the game come in. Secondly, one of the problems is we allow one generation to pass on their wealth to the next with very little taxation. They've been really good at avoiding inheriting taxes and that creates an inherited plutocracy.

[Sacha Pfeiffer]

What is your level of operation? Optimism or pessimism that some of the changes you hope to see shrink the wealth gap could actually happen.

[Joseph Stiglitz]

Obviously one source of optimism is what happened in the recent election. It's clear that many Americans are waking up to what is happening. A second source of optimism is what is happening. I mentioned before with the G20. The leaders of these 20 major countries around the world embracing about more than 80% of global income, large fraction of the global population, the focus on inequality.

[Sacha Pfeiffer]

The US is not participating in that, however.

[Joseph Stiglitz]

But eventually, if there's a global consensus, we will be forced, eventually, eventually to join the global consensus. I think it's not going to be easy. But if the rest of the world is getting united around the theme that global inequality is a problem, eventually we will have to join these global efforts.

[Sacha Pfeiffer]

That is Nobel Laureate economist Professor Joseph Stiglitz. Thank you for your time.

[Joseph Stiglitz]

Thank you.

[Sacha Pfeiffer]

This episode was produced by Jordan Marie Smith with audio engineering by Peter Elena. It was edited by Ahmad Damon. Our executive producer is Sami Yenigun. It's Consider this from npr. I'm Sacha Pfeiffer. Foreign.

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The NPR Politics podcast, the political laws of gravity still exist.

[Joseph Stiglitz]

When you have an unpopular president and people are dissatisfied with the economy, that president's party loses.

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Plus the president's tariffs at the Supreme Court. Catch up on political news you've missed or have just been sitting out on the NPR Politics podcast. Listen on the NPR app or wherever you get your podcasts.

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