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FORECASTER · RESEARCH DRAFT

The Life You Can’t Afford

Working harder. Earning more. Still falling behind.

By Kevin L. MichelResearch draft · October 2026

A note before we begin

The people, household budgets and everyday scenes used to explain the argument are imagined. Named studies, policies, public statements and historical events are identified in the notes. This is a research draft about the conditions of a free and capable life, not individual medical or financial advice.

The complete research draft is available here to read online. It remains open to revision; commissioning supports the finished, edited PDF edition.

Updated October 1, 2026. The finished, edited PDF edition is offered separately on the book details page.

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Contents

  1. 01

    The Permission to Live

    The price of an ordinary life includes the time, security and room to choose that let a person do more than get through the month.

  2. 02

    When the Numbers Say You Are Doing Well

    Good income news can coexist with strained households. Careful distinctions among prices, income, wealth and usable margin make the affordability argument stronger.

  3. 03

    The Choices That Became Normal

    The Reagan and Thatcher years changed important economic rules. Understanding those changes requires mechanisms and historical discipline, rather than a single villain or a lost golden age.

  4. 04

    The Price of Being Well

    Health security requires care that people can pay for, reach, and make time to use, without having to prove their economic usefulness to deserve it.

  5. 05

    The Education We Owe Each Other

    A capable public education system expands the possibilities of children and adults, but its promise depends on durable investment, usable access, and honest attention to what resources achieve.

  6. 06

    A Place to Stand

    A home supports the rest of a life only when its price, condition, location, and security allow people to participate in the world around them.

  7. 07

    The Cost of Letting People Fall

    Housing loss, substance-related harm and economic insecurity can reinforce one another. Evidence can identify useful interventions without reducing people to a diagnosis or a single cause.

  8. 08

    What We Choose to Protect

    A society can demand effective public safety and reject unaccountable surveillance. Flock contracts and evaluations show why prevention, evidence and limits belong in the same decision.

  9. 09

    The Wealth We Build Together

    Public wealth can support ordinary freedom when institutions preserve assets, share costs and remain accountable. Norway offers concrete lessons, while an American agenda needs its own financing and delivery plan.

  10. 10

    Freedom With Somewhere to Go

    The promise of freedom becomes stronger when people can use it. A practical agenda can lower the cost of participation while leaving the shape of a good life to the person living it.