Mike Bloomberg once mused that New York was “a luxury product”. The former mayor meant that businesses—and, by extension, their staff—should be willing to tolerate higher costs in exchange for the advantages of living in a megacity. But many voters crave Manhattan buzz at Midwestern prices. This is one reason why New York’s Democrats recently backed a young, charismatic, far-left mayoral candidate, Zohran Mamdani, whose plans to ease the cost of living (such as a rent freeze) would surely make things worse (by discouraging new construction).
