It's Actually Good That Miamians Can't Afford Rent or Groceries, According to Libertarians

Yesterday, the United Way released an utterly bleak study showing nearly 60 percent of Miamians either live beneath the federal poverty line or struggle to afford rent, groceries, and childcare — even though many work full-time. And the number of "working poor" Miamians has dramatically increased over the last decade.

In short, Miami is a massively unequal and unfair place to live if you aren't part of the global 1 percent.

But don't fret, says the libertarian Reason Foundation, a nonprofit funded heavily by the Koch Brothers and other billionaire oligarchs. Everything you hate about Miami's economic and political structure is actually good and working just fine!

Miami is actually the seventh-most "economically free" city in America, the foundation claims. Florida cities ranked as the freest in the nation. Four towns — Jacksonville, Tampa, Orlando, and Miami — all made the top ten.

What does economic freedom mean to billionaires? Very little of the following: taxes, government spending, minimum wage, union membership, and government employment.

It appears the Koch brothers' economic freedom doesn't mean prosperity and security for all residents, but freedom for business leaders to be unbothered by taxes and regulations. The Reason Foundation's definition of "freedom" is based wholly on whether a city has regulations that annoy wealthy business owners. The foundation termed minimum-wage laws that force corporations to pay living wages "burdensome" to profits. The study seems to think it curtails freedom to allow unions that might, say, declare a strike if a CEO wanted to cut medical benefits. Moreover, states scored higher if they have "right-to-work" laws (like Florida's) that aim to undercut unions.