Affordability, affordability, affordability — that is the word on everyone’s minds.

Democrats performed well in last week’s elections by focusing on this very theme, which encompasses housing availability and inflation and education costs and child care and health care and so many other things. When they discuss “affordability” in vague terms, Democrats are even able to avoid toxic infighting between their progressive left and moderate factions. No need to relitigate democratic socialism as long as you’re sticking to high grocery prices, rent and so on.

The right needs to come up with its own answers in terms of the affordability crisis. Here was conservative news host Ben Shapiro offering up one view to native New Yorkers: “If you’re a young person and you can’t afford to live here, then maybe you should not live here.”

Oh, Ben.

Now, I like Ben Shapiro, and if you’ve been watching “Rising” these past two weeks, I’ve been taking his side an awful lot in the so-called groyper wars, i.e., the Tucker/Fuentes feud, or whatever you want to call it.

And I even agree with him, if you want to get technical about it, that voting with your feet is the best response for young people to dwindling economic prospects. It’s absolutely true: If New York or California are becoming unaffordable or unlivable because of failed progressive policies, then try out a saner city, or the suburb of a city in the Sun Belt, or the Midwest. This is a viable option for more and more young people, as work increasingly becomes remote.

I know living in a city can feel like a must — and for young people in certain fields, like national media or politics, it is a must. But there are a lot of careers that can be done perfectly well from home, in a comparatively affordable suburb. Go give it a try, and if you like it, get married there, and start a family.

Shapiro is also right that this has been the American experience since the founding of our great nation. As more land became available to the west, Americans moved that way, in search of new frontiers, opportunities and communities. We should channel the spirits of our ancestors and do the same. There’s a great, comparatively empty interior to this country that’s just waiting to welcome young people seeking affordability.

All that said, Shapiro’s advice probably sounds like a bit cold and unhelpful for the many, many young people who are frustrated with the Trump administration, and perhaps the GOP more broadly, for failing to deliver on concrete policies that will make life easier for the people who voted for them.

In fact, Shapiro has had this argument before, with Tucker Carlson, who made the following point: “If you wake up one morning and find yourself in a society where 23-year-olds with four-year college degrees and, like, initiative, who aren’t smoking weed every day, if they can’t make enough to buy a car, much less a home, much less get married, much less have children, then why should we be surprised when half of them say they prefer socialism?”

That debate took place a decade ago. I think Carlson’s point probably resonated with quite a few young people.

So let’s not be content to say, “Go west, young man.” If we’re going to make things better in the here and now, the GOP must champion affordability. Thankfully, the answer to the affordability crisis is for the GOP to deliver on the promises it’s been making for years, or even decades.

For instance, the higher education system is not working for young people: college has become an expensive credentialing system that wastes some of the most productive years of young people’s life, fails to prepare them for relevant work, and then straddles them with unsustainable debt. Let’s scrap that. The federal government should stop subsidizing student loans, which have only encouraged universities to raise tuition. Instead, compel universities to lower tuition if they want to qualify for research dollars. If anybody is paying off the debts of college students and graduates, it should be the colleges themselves — not the taxpayers.

Making housing more affordable is even easier: Just build more housing. Build, build, build. We need to vastly expand the supply of housing. Cut red tape, kill off zoning laws, ignore the complaints of NIMBY neighbors who are afraid that a tall building will ruin the village’s rustic charm.

The same goes for food prices. We know why they’re out of whack: Not enough trade. The administration has been too focused on using tariffs for perhaps justifiable national security reasons, and the consequence is everything being too expensive in the here and now.

GOP voters might punish the party come midterms if the administration doesn’t pay better attention to their concerns. Young people in particular might punish the party. There’s a lot of concern being paid to older voters to make sure they still get Medicare and Social Security. You know who isn’t getting an entitlement right now? Gen Z. Trump overperformed with this generation in 2024. He certainly owes them something.

Robby Soave is co-host of The Hill’s commentary show “Rising” and a senior editor for Reason Magazine. This column is an edited transcription of his daily commentary.

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