Recently, National Field Director Greg Neff took to Kent State University to give a talk about the rising cost of living in America.
Speaking to a Students for Liberty group, the head of CFACT’s collegians division spoke on the numerous reasons for the reduced living standards of the current generation. The talk was divided into three main arguments: inflation, taxes, and regulations.
When discussing inflation, Greg hammered on America abandoning the gold standard and
showed the rising debt, which largely covers social safety nets started under LBJ, ever since
that momentous decision. Greg spoke about how a rise in currency printing to cover this debt has devalued the dollar.
When the topic moved on to taxes, the speaker used examples such as solar tax credits which
provide an economic incentive for the haves to purchase these otherwise–inefficient products
then sell back the excess energy produced to the power company, who then sell it to the poor and middle class who didn’t receive the special tax breaks.
Finally, they turned to regulations, which had by far the most examples. Greg showed how built-in regulatory costs increase the prices of everything people buy today. This baked in artificial cost totals up to $15,000 per American per year, the second-highest budget item behind only housing. One example was that under Obama alone, fuel efficiency standards for automobiles
drove up costs for cars by $7100.
One student, Nick Fisher, who was present for the talk said, “this is important for students to
hear. We have been led to believe that corporate greed is the sole reason for rising costs. Knowing the truth could lead some to make different political decisions later this year.”
