2025-11-01
49 分钟The Economist Jimmy McMillan thought New York was too expensive.
In that, he was not alone.
But it never really translated into votes.
He was a perennial candidate for New York City Mayor and Governor of the Empire State.
His biggest haul was just about 40,000 votes for Governor in 2010.
But his slogan has lasted.
The rent is too damn high.
Now, a candidate with a similar message is running for mayor.
And this time, New Yorkers are expected to give him a lot more votes than McMillan ever won.
I'm John Prado, and this is Checks and Balance from The Economist.
Each week, we take one big theme shaping American politics and explore it in depth.
Today, Zoran Mamdani, the cost of living and the future of New York's economy.
Polls show the democratic socialist will likely win next week's Merrill race.
Can he turn his campaign promises of a more affordable city into actual policy?
What might that mean for both Gotham residents and the financial industry?
And is the country ready for another experiment with democratic socialism?
With me this week to talk about Zora and Mamdani,
what he could and couldn't do as mayor of New York and how America's biggest city,
arguably the greatest city on earth is doing, are two New Yorkers.
We've got both types of New Yorker here.