In this episode, Adam Butler is joined by guest Mike Green to discuss his viral Substack articles on the American affordability crisis. The conversation explores the significant gap between official economic statistics, like CPI, and the lived financial reality for the middle class, a phenomenon Green argues is often dismissed by an expert "mockery machine." They also discuss the use of LLMs in his research process and debate potential policy solutions to address widespread economic precarity.
Topics Discussed
• The use of Large Language Models (LLMs) as productivity tools for research and writing.
• A critique of the "mockery machine" in public discourse that dismisses legitimate concerns about the cost of living
• The disconnect between formal economic definitions of inflation and the public's lived experience of unaffordability
• The concept of a "precarity line" for a modern family versus the technical definition of a poverty line
• The economic pressures leading to "ghost households," where young people forgo having children due to high costs
• Flaws in economic metrics like the CPI, particularly how quality adjustments mask the true rise in essential costs
• The societal gaslighting by the economic establishment and its political consequences.
• The "Valley of Death" or benefits cliff, where withdrawing government support creates a barrier to entering the middle class
• Debating policy solutions like tariffs, direct government investment, and incentive-based programs to address economic precarity
