AOC says ‘you can’t earn’ a billion dollars. Common sense says otherwise

Published May 28, 2026 7:00am ET



According to a part-time economist and full-time member of Congress, no one can honestly earn a billion dollars. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) has said that “You can get market power, you can break rules, you can abuse labor laws, you can pay people less than what they’re worth, but you can’t earn that.”

There is much wrong with this claim.

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