Support the reporting revealing the hidden forces behind the affordability crisis ??????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????

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**Dear John,**

This week, readers across the country received our **newest issue on the affordability crisis** [link removed] - an issue driven by an increasingly common experience: everything is too damn expensive. Going beyond the headlines about the causes of rising prices and the resultant political blame game, this issue highlights something that the

**Prospect** does better than anyone else - reporting about the hidden forces behind an economy that seems to only be working for a handful of people.

The reason we can report on the powerful forces shaping - often

**rigging** - our economic systems is that

**we're independent**. We use that word when we're writing about our community of supporters, but what does that actually mean in practice? It means that at the end of the day,

**the only people who we owe anything to are you, our
readers.** We have no owners; no one working here has any incentive to juice income in the short term at the expense of our readers; we don't have shareholders we're beholden to; and there is no billionaire backer who can dictate our coverage and pull the plug if we resist. We are truly free to write about what matters.????

But, as the saying goes, freedom isn't free. We're given our freedom to write about who and what we want with moral clarity and honesty because of you. We don't have a paywall or glossy corporate advertising. If we're going to do more and better work in 2026, we need you to chip in.

Donate to the Prospect [link removed]

I wish I could be more optimistic and hopeful right now. To be honest, it is a little overwhelming contemplating next year. The Trump administration's breathless corruption, attacks on democracy, and voodoo
economics show no signs of slowing down. But in the face of all of this, we need to be steeled and determined - both to write about what is happening now, and to start describing a more hopeful and just future so that we can step into something that works for everyone in 2028 and beyond. No matter what happens, everyone here at the

**Prospect** will be there alongside you trying to illuminate and explain American politics and economy?? and working to shape the country after Trump - will you join us?

Support independent journalism in 2026 [link removed]

Onwards,

Mitch Grummon
Publisher

Mitch Grummon
Publisher

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