Abundance

By: Ezra Klein, Derek Thompson

Narrated by: Ezra Klein, Derek Thompson

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

“A terrific book...Powerful and persuasive.” —Fareed Zakaria

“Spectacular…Offers a comprehensive indictment of the current problems and a clear path forward…Klein and Thompson usher in a mood shift. They inspire hope and enlarge the imagination.” —David Brooks, The New York Times

“A raging political fad has taken over the Democratic Party….The Abundance movement cuts across the party’s ideological fissures….Democratic politicians are rushing to embrace the new mantra.” —The Wall Street Journal

From bestselling authors and journalistic titans Ezra Klein and Derek Thompson, Abundance is a once-in-a-generation, paradigm-shifting call to renew a politics of plenty, face up to the failures of liberal governance, and abandon the chosen scarcities that have deformed American life.

To trace the history of the twenty-first century so far is to trace a history of unaffordability and shortage. After years of refusing to build sufficient housing, America has a national housing crisis. After years of limiting immigration, we don’t have enough workers. Despite decades of being warned about the consequences of climate change, we haven’t built anything close to the clean-energy infrastructure we need. Ambitious public projects are finished late and over budget—if they are ever finished at all. The crisis that’s clicking into focus now has been building for decades—because we haven’t been building enough.

Abundance explains that our problems today are not the results of yesteryear’s villains. Rather, one generation’s solutions have become the next gener­ation’s problems. Rules and regulations designed to solve the problems of the 1970s often prevent urban-density and green-energy projects that would help solve the problems of the 2020s. Laws meant to ensure that government considers the consequences of its actions have made it too difficult for government to act consequentially. In the last few decades, our capacity to see problems has sharpened while our ability to solve them has diminished.

Progress requires facing up to the institutions in life that are not working as they need to. It means, for liberals, recognizing when the government is failing. It means, for conservatives, recognizing when the government is needed. In a book exploring how we can move from a liberalism that not only protects and pre­serves but also builds, Klein and Thompson trace the political, economic, and cultural barriers to progress and propose a path toward a politics of abundance. At a time when movements of scarcity are gaining power in country after country, this is an answer that meets the challenges of the moment while grappling honestly with the fury so many rightfully feel.

©2024 Ezra Klein and Derek Thompson (P)2024 Simon & Schuster Audio

A must read for those who want America to Build

If you're disenchanted by the extremes on the right and left, this book will give you some hope about the future of the US. It is centrist, well researched, interesting, and thoughtful. The conclusions plot a path to an optimistic future.

Simultaneously enraging and inspiring

Appreciate the deep dive in to why things aren't working and what we can *hopefully* do to improve our chances for a prosperous and healthy future.

Inspirational

These are the conversations we should be having and what we need in this time of extreme politics on both sides.

Ideas that were well thought out and original.

I like living on the land. I am 😟 concerned regarding how do we balance economy of scale in food production, like cell grown meat, with individual food sovereignty and the right to individual liberty and ability to grow your food on your own land.

A balanced view

I appreciate the authors being able to remain neutral, and not just blame one side for all our problems. Instead of this just being a book to tar and feather republicans, it’s a book with nuance and tact.

truth

hard to flow sometimes could be dense if you're not an economist
still mostly accessible a ND I hope people across spectrum read it yes yes yw a yes yes yes yes yes no no

Brilliant analysis

Brilliant analysis of failures of both political parties over the last 60 years. With interesting ideas on how to go forward.

Positive about the future with an outline how to achieve it

Liked that it avoided being very divisive. It.remarked a path forward that prevents challenges to our leadership, our bureaucracy, our inventors, and our builders.

Ezra Klein has some very honest and well thought out takes in 2025

I personally became familiar with Ezra Klein around 2018 when I watched his Sunday special interview with Ben Shapiro. At the time I was beginning to move right, the culture war was giving me a slightly conservative bend. I've grown up and always been an environmentalist so this was odd. But I was young, I was about 25 at the time. I have since followed Ezra Klein generally and I am very impressed with his growth over the last 8 years or so. I can't think of one take that now I disagree with him on, and the way he delivers them in this book is incredibly profound. Honestly, his articulation into the topics of Abundance is something that I've always wanted to be able to do but have never been able to get anywhere close. I've researched some of the topics included, but not as far as he and Derek Thompson have obviously, and therefore could never fully flush out my own viewpoint without all the corresponding data points. This book will likely prove to have been a broad leap in my knowledge and approach to these issues looking back with hindsight.
Ezra fundamentally researches issues and is honest about how he approaches the information he receives while exploring these topics. He doesn't take partisanship too far, yet he's aware of how far it's being taken around him. I absolutely enjoyed this book because of how succinctly it lays out exactly where the environmental revolution has actually set us back in environmental preservation progress. the way he gets into the housing market, specifically in California where I live and have grown up, I see exactly what he's saying and can empathize with it completely. I gotta say, I'm becoming an Ezra Klein simp more and more lately. I can't wait to see what other projects he delves into in the next 5 years, I'll be staying tuned.

optimism

the authors' juxtaposition of their ideology of abundance to scarcity is optimistic and kinda refreshing. good read.