The Economy

Inflation & The Rising Living Costs Are the Price of Poor Planning and Inefficiency

Inflation isn’t just something that happens to us.

It’s often the bill for systems that weren’t designed for today, weren’t maintained for tomorrow, and weren’t fixed when the warning signs were already obvious.

When we talk about inflation, we usually point to interest rates, supply chains, or global events. What we talk about far less is inefficiency—and the quiet cost of poor foresight. Systems that no longer meet our needs are left in place because changing them is hard, slow, or politically inconvenient. Eventually, those systems fail. And failure is never cheap.

Take wildfires. When systems meant to prevent, manage, or contain them fall behind—whether it’s infrastructure, planning, coordination, or response—the damage is enormous. Entire neighborhoods are lost. Lives are upended. And the common assumption is that the losses are absorbed by insurance companies or wealthy homeowners. They aren’t.

Those costs spread outward, slowly and relentlessly. Insurance premiums rise. Coverage disappears. Housing becomes more expensive. Utilities and essential services cost more. Businesses pass higher costs on to consumers. What looks like a single disaster quietly turns into inflation—paid for by millions of people whose homes never burned.

This is why efficiency in government matters far more than most people realize. It isn’t about ideology. It’s about competence. Foresight. And the willingness to overhaul systems before they break—rather than explaining why they failed after the damage is done.

Inflation is not just an economic phenomenon.

It is often the cumulative cost of inefficiency, delay, and outdated systems.

And when those systems fail, we don’t just pay once. We pay every month.