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Affordability is an Accountability Test for Corporate America
October 15, 2026
Bryan DeAngelis,
Tucker Warren
Affordability may have started the year as a campaign message, but it is becoming a test of accessibility, fairness, and ultimately accountability. For business leaders, the question is whether your company is easing the affordability pressures Americans are facing, or not?
Companies that can answer that question affirmatively with evidence are better positioned to protect their reputation. Those that cannot will have policymakers, consumers, and other stakeholders answer it for them.
Affordability is increasingly about whether basic aspects of the economy are accessible and whether that feels fair. Among consumers, frustration rises when they struggle to afford essentials while gains at the top remain highly visible. The top 1% now hold a record 32.5% of U.S. household wealth1, and the number of American billionaires has climbed from 565 in 2017 to a record 9892 this year.
Meanwhile, overall consumer prices are up 29% since 20203. However, many necessities have climbed much faster: gasoline is up more than 90%4, monthly payments on new mortgages 40%5, electricity 38%6 and parents report that 20% of household income goes to child care, which is nearly three times the federal affordability benchmark.
Companies will be judged on their response, not just the cause
That pressure is shaping how policymakers view corporate behavior. In Penta’s latest Policymaker Research, 64% of policymakers named the economy as their top issue—the first time in 15 years that this figure has exceeded 60%.
Policymakers recognize that forces outside companies’ direct control are impacting prices. Our research found that 56% of policymakers cited macroeconomic or geopolitical forces as the primary drivers of affordability challenges, while 30% cited companies prioritizing profit.
As one Democratic policy advisor explained, “A company would have to show or be able to speak to how their supply chain has been impacted by the war…If you have record-breaking profits, then your whole argument falls apart.”
A business can have a legitimate explanation for higher costs but policymakers are increasingly distinguishing between who caused the problem, who benefited from it, and who helped solve it.
Political candidates in both parties are treating affordability as a defining test. Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro pressured a utility into withdrawing a rate increase; Vice President Vance7 has said Republicans will be judged by whether they make a decent life affordable; and Sen. Cory Booker8 has accused corporations of getting rich by keeping prices high.
After the Supreme Court struck down tariffs earlier this year, billions of dollars in refunds went back to corporations. Some businesses such as Walmart and Target9 said they would use refunds to lower prices, while FedEx10 and UPS11 returned money directly to customers who had paid the duties.
Those decisions created a straightforward story: costs went down, and consumers shared in the benefit. Companies that made different choices may face a harder question: If the company received relief, where did that value go?
Affordability is about more than the price tag
Policymakers are expanding their definition of affordability beyond sticker prices to include fees, billing practices, cancellation processes, access to assistance, and whether affordable options remain available. Friction, confusion, and unexpected charges are increasingly part of the problem.
As one Democratic chief of staff put it, “You feel like you get nickel-and-dimed, whether you have to pay for a checking account, inadvertently overdraft and it’s several hundred dollars later, or the exorbitant credit card interest rates charged.”
These experiences can turn routine business practices into broader questions about whether companies are treating consumers fairly.
Companies face two risks: a fairness risk when inequality becomes more visible, and accessibility risk when affordable options become scarcer.
Premium options can reinforce perceptions of fairness. For example, Disney's line-skipping pass now costs $49912 per person per day. The basic option still exists, but the contrast can reinforce the perception that convenience and quality increasingly depend on how much you can pay.
But when access changes, the risk goes up. For example, major airlines are putting nearly all their growth into premium cabins while holding economy seating flat or cutting it. The collapse of budget carriers has removed many of the cheapest seats from the market.
Optics invite criticism about what’s fair. Access invites hearings, investigations, and legislation.
AI is contributing to both kinds of risk
Artificial intelligence is widening the gap further. Recent political messaging has focused on whether AI and consumer data could personalize prices. Candidates have attacked the possibility of grocery stores using personal information to charge different consumers different prices for the same goods, while policymakers are also examining how data centers may affect household utility costs.
That concern is emerging across party lines.
As a Democratic legislative staffer said, “As someone whose energy bill went up 25% because they put a data center three towns over, I would be really curious to see what we are looking at.”
Trust is already thin: 73% of Americans3 say they don't trust businesses to use AI responsibly. That tension becomes tangible when it impacts access: 78% of six-figure earners get regular access to new AI tools, compared with 49% of lower earners13.
Proof will matter more than messaging
If accountability is becoming the test, evidence is the answer. Companies need to demonstrate how their decisions ease pressure on consumers, not simply say they care about affordability.
Penta's Policymaker Research found that few companies are earning recognition for their affordability efforts. Costco was the only company that multiple policymakers, across party lines, independently cited as an affordability leader, with respondents pointing to its reputation for keeping prices and margins low.
As one Democratic deputy legislative director observed, “Everybody loves Costco, right? They have a reputation for keeping their margins basically as low as possible…They certainly have a reputation…for being committed to affordability.”
The finding underscores how consistent business practices can build credibility in ways corporate messaging alone cannot. For companies, that means showing where they absorbed higher costs, returned savings to consumers, preserved lower-priced options, simplified fees, or documented the local economic benefits of new investments.
The strongest companies will build a record of consumer value before scrutiny arrives. That requires three things: identifying vulnerabilities, documenting how business decisions benefit consumers, and communicating those decisions clearly and consistently.
The new burden of proof
Affordability is not just an economic condition companies must navigate. It is now a test of corporate accountability, with businesses judged not only on what they charge, but on who benefits from their decisions and whether consumers are better off as a result.
For business leaders, that means identifying and monitoring where their practices could invite scrutiny, demonstrating tangible consumer benefits, and strategically communicating that evidence in ways that resonate across key stakeholder groups.
What did you do to ease the financial burden? Who benefited? And did the basic necessities that people need remain within reach?
That is the new corporate accountability test.
Sources
2. Forbes
3. https://officialdata.org/ - BLS Consumer Price Index
4. https://officialdata.org/ - BLS Average Prices
6. eia.gov
8. https://www.booker.senate.gov/news/press/booker-announces-keep-your-pdirectly make ay-act
9. https://www.cnbc.com/2026/08/30/trump-tariff-refunds-walmart-home-deporaiseof t-target.html
10. https://www.fedex.com/en-us/shipping/international/us-tariffs-impact.html
11. https://www.ups.com/us/en/shipping/international-shipping/tariffs/tariff-refunds
13. https://www.theadaptavistgroup.com/resources/insights/digital-etiquette/unlocking-the-ai-gates