# The Great Affordability Lie?

An episode of [The David McWilliams Podcast](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/1462649946), 9 Dec 2025, 36 min.

Audio: https://sphinx.acast.com/p/acast/s/the-david-mcwilliams-podcast/e/6936eba23929b3e5582d0cda/media.mp3

Around the world, people feel poorer, even when the numbers say we’ve never been richer. In Ireland, GDP is soaring, household wealth has more than doubled since 2014, and yet most families are pinned to their collar. Why? Because the official poverty line is €33,600, but it now takes at least €52,000 a year just to stay afloat. That’s a 40% gap between what’s measured and what’s felt. Rent has passed €2,000 a month, groceries are up 16% in a year, childcare can cost over €1,000 monthly, and still we’re told the economy is “booming.” Inspired by Michael Green’s viral Substack and Kyla Scanlon’s “vibecession,” we unpack the growing chasm between income and cost, and how it’s fuelling backlash, burnout, and political blowback from New York to Newbridge. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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