AOC’s Economic Ignorance

by David Shephard, ©2026

(May 11, 2026) — Last week Democratic Socialist congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio Cortez appeared on the podcast, “It’s Open with Ilana Glazer” to share her views on economics. I have never heard of this podcast, but the host, Ilana Glazer (they/them) is by profession a comedian.

Why would AOC want to publicize her economic beliefs by doing an interview with a comedian? Very simply, AOC knows nothing about economics despite the fact that she studied economics at Boston University. If she knew anything about economics, she would do an interview with someone well versed on the dismal science and not a comedian. And of course, she knew Glazer would offer no pushback.

Now ordinarily I just ignore AOC, but in the interview, she made two far-fetched and unsupported claims, which I think need to be refuted. First, she claimed that no one can “legitimately” earn a billion dollars. She said:

“You can’t earn a billion dollars. You can get market power. You can break rules. You can do all sorts of things. You can abuse labor laws. You can pay people less than what they’re worth. But you can’t earn that.”

How did AOC come up with this billion-dollar ceiling? I think she does believe that someone can legitimately make one million dollars, but why not a billion dollars. What’s the difference? Why is there a line at one billion dollars? She didn’t say, nor was she asked to explain, but my guess is that it sounds good rhetorically. Going after billionaires sounds better than going after millionaires, considering that most Americans still believe that making a million dollars is obtainable. So, she decides to demonize the billionaires.

Democratic Socialists, such as AOC, blame the affordability crisis on billionaires, but they ignore the government’s role in driving up the cost of living. They ignore the fact that the government, through taxes, forces people to work longer. They ignore the fact that government regulations, rules and mandates drive up the cost of healthcare, education, and housing. Billionaires make their money through voluntary exchanges with consumers, while the government, by force of law, gets into the pockets of workers.

AOC and the socialists don’t understand that wealth is something that is created. It is not a zero-sum game, where there is only a finite amount of money, and if someone gains a dollar, then someone else must lose a dollar. Rather, wealth is created when someone creates a good or service that people want. An increase in the number of billionaires is a healthy sign. If we had an economic system which could no longer produce billionaires, then we would also have a stagnant economy, without innovation and economic progress.

But let’s consider her charge that no one can legitimately earn a billion dollars. Taylor Swift, the singer, is worth close to two billion dollars. How did she become a billionaire? Did she rip people off? Did she make her billions illegitimately?

Well, Swift produces a product, that is songs and a musical performance, that people want to see. People want to buy her music and see her in concert. Does she rip people off? Well, her concerts may be a bit expensive, but people are willing to pay, and my guess is that there is not a single Taylor Swift fan who will claim that her products aren’t worth the money. Let’s put it this way: at the end of the night, the vast majority of her concert-goers go home satisfied with the performance.

Now unlike James Comey, I am not a Taylor Swift fan, but she made her money the fairest way possible. She made it based on talent and hard work, and I would say the same about all billionaires. There are lots of other people, who, while they don’t have Swift’s musical talent, they have made billions of dollars in their pursuits because like Swift they created a good or service that people want.

In the podcast AOC also makes another assertion about “wage theft”:

“The single largest form of theft in America is wage theft. $50 billion a year are (is) stolen from American workers. Some people get enraged that I draw attention to this. That’s on them. Let them call me shrill, dumb, inexperienced, girly, uneducated – these folks will say anything to distract from or undercut the truth that working people are getting screwed, and giving people a fair shake means we must have a grown conversation about reigning in abuse of power.”

When she says, “wage theft,” she is not referring to withholding taxes, that is the 30 to 40 percent of a worker’s paycheck being withheld by their state, local and federal government; instead she is asserting her belief that workers are underpaid. How would AOC know what anybody should be paid? She doesn’t.

How has she come to the conclusion that billionaires underpay people? No surprise, she offered no evidence or data, nor did she name any billionaire currently underpaying their employees.

Also, her belief that someone can become a billionaire by starting a business and then underpaying their employees is absurd. Actually, she should try that. Leave Congress, start a business and underpay her employees, and see how long it takes for her to make a billion dollars.

How could someone in Congress, and with a background of waiting on tables, know so little about economics? I don’t know – unlike her, I didn’t go to Boston University.

David Shephard is a native and very proud Virginian.  Raised in Fairfax County, David graduated from George Mason University and majored in Government and Politics. He spent decades in politics, campaign consulting, raising money and lobbying.  He is also a longtime conservative blogger writing for numerous blogs.  He is also the host of “The Virginia Gentleman Podcast.”

David is the author of Elections Have Consequences, A Cautionary Tale, and his latest book, Norton’s Choice: An Inside Politics Exposé.