Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.77 AVERAGE
3.77 AVERAGE
Matt Yglesias, late of Vox and possibly my favorite take-haver in the left-of-center blog world (I'll explain later), argues that the United States of America can really be made great if we tripled in population.
Why? (1) On a very basic level, it's easier to get things done with more people rather than fewer; (2) Many places, cities and suburbs alike, are actually shrinking in population, so backfilling them with new people lets that infrastructure work better; (3) If we're big and rich we can more easily compete with China, and competition with China is probably better than ceding ground to China (the Uighur genocide and the Hong Kong crackdowns are just examples from the recent year or so for why we might want to dis-prefer China); (4) Americans actually say they want to have more children than they end up having (2.4 wanted vs. fewer than 2 actually had); (5) Lots and lots of foreign-born people want to move here, and immigrants are good, actually.
And this really is more of a "why/why-not" kind of book than a "how" book, although Yglesias notes that a lot of the barriers to population growth and the levers to enable it are actually pretty simple and well-understood policies. We can give people money when they have a child, either as an allowance or as a lump sum (or both) - like European countries do. We can let dying towns and cities sponsor visas for skilled foreign workers, that get converted to green cards after a certain number of years. We can drop the gas tax and do congestion pricing instead. We can let people build more kinds of houses because right now it's illegal. We can build transit infrastructure like Spain and Germany do, and get more bang for our buck.
In many places, this seems less pull-your-hair-out complicated than questions of systemic racism and online disinformation, to pick two hot topics from $CURRENT_YEAR. (Although there's reason to believe that universal programs like a child allowance would increase racial equity!) So that makes it even more frustrating that there's so little political will for these policies, or against current bad policies. You don't even need to sign on to the "One Billion Americans agenda" to support many of them: in my view they're just good, clean policy.
So that's the book: basically a long-form gonzo polemic in the vein of "hey, why not." It's convenient that the single goal of getting a billion Americans allows Yglesias to play his greatest hits (on land use policy, say) and it's somewhat obvious which ones those are, since they get more meaty bits. It doesn't present as "serious" or "sober" policy advocacy, but the steady refrain of "why not though" keeps it worthy of consideration.
So while I give it a fun-loving 4 stars for the ideas (again, "why not?"), Yglesias' style is pretty idiosyncratic and I can see it turning people away. Personally, I love the way he uses thuddingly obvious statements as conjunctions, like an extreme version of the "Beltway style." I also love the way he can distill and reframe objections as provocative policy choices. Some might call it strawmanning, but I think it's more of an obvious view that should be explicitly refuted. :)
So overall, 3.5 stars rounded down. I do suggest that people read it, but if you're not a specific kind of wonk, maybe check it out from the library.
Why? (1) On a very basic level, it's easier to get things done with more people rather than fewer; (2) Many places, cities and suburbs alike, are actually shrinking in population, so backfilling them with new people lets that infrastructure work better; (3) If we're big and rich we can more easily compete with China, and competition with China is probably better than ceding ground to China (the Uighur genocide and the Hong Kong crackdowns are just examples from the recent year or so for why we might want to dis-prefer China); (4) Americans actually say they want to have more children than they end up having (2.4 wanted vs. fewer than 2 actually had); (5) Lots and lots of foreign-born people want to move here, and immigrants are good, actually.
And this really is more of a "why/why-not" kind of book than a "how" book, although Yglesias notes that a lot of the barriers to population growth and the levers to enable it are actually pretty simple and well-understood policies. We can give people money when they have a child, either as an allowance or as a lump sum (or both) - like European countries do. We can let dying towns and cities sponsor visas for skilled foreign workers, that get converted to green cards after a certain number of years. We can drop the gas tax and do congestion pricing instead. We can let people build more kinds of houses because right now it's illegal. We can build transit infrastructure like Spain and Germany do, and get more bang for our buck.
In many places, this seems less pull-your-hair-out complicated than questions of systemic racism and online disinformation, to pick two hot topics from $CURRENT_YEAR. (Although there's reason to believe that universal programs like a child allowance would increase racial equity!) So that makes it even more frustrating that there's so little political will for these policies, or against current bad policies. You don't even need to sign on to the "One Billion Americans agenda" to support many of them: in my view they're just good, clean policy.
So that's the book: basically a long-form gonzo polemic in the vein of "hey, why not." It's convenient that the single goal of getting a billion Americans allows Yglesias to play his greatest hits (on land use policy, say) and it's somewhat obvious which ones those are, since they get more meaty bits. It doesn't present as "serious" or "sober" policy advocacy, but the steady refrain of "why not though" keeps it worthy of consideration.
So while I give it a fun-loving 4 stars for the ideas (again, "why not?"), Yglesias' style is pretty idiosyncratic and I can see it turning people away. Personally, I love the way he uses thuddingly obvious statements as conjunctions, like an extreme version of the "Beltway style." I also love the way he can distill and reframe objections as provocative policy choices. Some might call it strawmanning, but I think it's more of an obvious view that should be explicitly refuted. :)
So overall, 3.5 stars rounded down. I do suggest that people read it, but if you're not a specific kind of wonk, maybe check it out from the library.
Matthew Yglesias presents a well-argued book clearly laying out the reasons for increasing the population in the US. It was a short read, so it’s always hard to get the details you want, but I think it’s a very valid argument that should merit further conversation.
Some really great points. Some awesome ideas about how to keep the American economy growing and strong. I liked some of the solutions presented here because they would especially benefit some of the most at need. I really liked his ideas about transportation, education, and ideas about redistribution of big companies.
But we grow. Build a bunch of stuff. And then what?
We can’t grow forever. We need to think about how to use what we have more sustainably. We need to think about how to live and not grow/ build/ expand/get more all the time. How do we keep our existing quality of life? Because we can’t grow indefinitely.
But we grow. Build a bunch of stuff. And then what?
We can’t grow forever. We need to think about how to use what we have more sustainably. We need to think about how to live and not grow/ build/ expand/get more all the time. How do we keep our existing quality of life? Because we can’t grow indefinitely.
Most pundits fail to make arguments as straight forward, intuitive, clear, considered, and practical as this book. Especially for whacky ideas that are not part of the mainstream. If you are unfamiliar with Matt's work or want a better understanding of YIMBYism, ubranism, the economics of a social safety net (without getting too wonky), this book is a great introduction. But for those of us who are inclined to read this book in the first place and might already know about a lot of the ideas discussed, the book lacked in additional information.
There was a really original argument here about how we can solve many problems at once with concerted national effort. We don't have an immigration problem, we have an opportunity to pump new economic life into our failing cities. Committing national effort to link economic development with immigration feels like a deeply American thread that doesn't make it into our modern discourse as much. Matt does a great job of preaching to patriotism while communicating ideas that are no longer associated with what "makes America great". Another original progressive slight-of-hand was how to tie a strong social safety net to economic redevelopment of the losing cities of the 21st century. Great arguments for progressive ideas are detailed here and the book deserves credit for that.
Where this book is lacking to me is in its audience. It offers a great policy suite to essentially the people who probably already consider these ideas for other reasons. I am a liberal guy living in DC, this book was meant for me to digest quickly and easily, but nothing here really changed my views. Maybe his point was just to strengthen arguments of people he agrees with, not to convince anyone. That is fine. However, the roadblocks and bottlenecks to reforming immigration, revitalizing American infrastructure, and developing our welfare programs is not in making good original arguments, but in fighting NIMBYism, addressing economic displacement from globalization, and deeper divides in our country. I sound like I am disappointed in how it reaches out to the right, but it also fails for some important audiences on the left. I am not sure if this book is making more friends than enemies.
This book offers no solutions for messaging these policies in the political realm. At best, the argument becomes paternalistic sounding like: "the conservatives, the NIMBY's, and the poor cities will understand we are right once we implement these policies." That isn't going to work and makes any legislative effort to implement these policies dead before it even begins. Matt has the mind and the political bravery to convey technocratic utopian ideas wrapped in patriotism, but he shies away from actually offering political solutions to build the coalitions needed for these ideas.
As someone who loves economics though, I will say that this book uses economic concepts in a very clever and intuitive way. From purely a social science communication perspective, this book does a great job of describing complex economic ideas with nuance and simplicity. I did walk away from this book with a greater respect for Matt Yglesias as an intellectual, but I wish he could pair up with a talented politician who can really manifest the model of America he argues for.
There was a really original argument here about how we can solve many problems at once with concerted national effort. We don't have an immigration problem, we have an opportunity to pump new economic life into our failing cities. Committing national effort to link economic development with immigration feels like a deeply American thread that doesn't make it into our modern discourse as much. Matt does a great job of preaching to patriotism while communicating ideas that are no longer associated with what "makes America great". Another original progressive slight-of-hand was how to tie a strong social safety net to economic redevelopment of the losing cities of the 21st century. Great arguments for progressive ideas are detailed here and the book deserves credit for that.
Where this book is lacking to me is in its audience. It offers a great policy suite to essentially the people who probably already consider these ideas for other reasons. I am a liberal guy living in DC, this book was meant for me to digest quickly and easily, but nothing here really changed my views. Maybe his point was just to strengthen arguments of people he agrees with, not to convince anyone. That is fine. However, the roadblocks and bottlenecks to reforming immigration, revitalizing American infrastructure, and developing our welfare programs is not in making good original arguments, but in fighting NIMBYism, addressing economic displacement from globalization, and deeper divides in our country. I sound like I am disappointed in how it reaches out to the right, but it also fails for some important audiences on the left. I am not sure if this book is making more friends than enemies.
This book offers no solutions for messaging these policies in the political realm. At best, the argument becomes paternalistic sounding like: "the conservatives, the NIMBY's, and the poor cities will understand we are right once we implement these policies." That isn't going to work and makes any legislative effort to implement these policies dead before it even begins. Matt has the mind and the political bravery to convey technocratic utopian ideas wrapped in patriotism, but he shies away from actually offering political solutions to build the coalitions needed for these ideas.
As someone who loves economics though, I will say that this book uses economic concepts in a very clever and intuitive way. From purely a social science communication perspective, this book does a great job of describing complex economic ideas with nuance and simplicity. I did walk away from this book with a greater respect for Matt Yglesias as an intellectual, but I wish he could pair up with a talented politician who can really manifest the model of America he argues for.
I was skeptical as to why we would want more people in the US. Yglesias lays out really well thought ideas on why we need more humans to remain competitive, ideas around immigration that were more interesting than what you normally hear and a lot more around zoning policy than I had ever given thought to.
Yglesias' premise is simple: If the US wants to remain a dominant world power, we need to increase our economic power. And really, the only way to do that is by increasing the population, which can mainly be accomplished by helping people who want larger families to have them, and by encouraging immigration.
This is one of the clearest policy/economics books I've ever read, and he makes a strong case that we can improve our society -- including increasing happiness -- in many ways while maintaining our international standing and without drastically changing what we call "the American way of life."
I have many, many highlights to share... but it's going to take me a while to sort through them!
This is one of the clearest policy/economics books I've ever read, and he makes a strong case that we can improve our society -- including increasing happiness -- in many ways while maintaining our international standing and without drastically changing what we call "the American way of life."
I have many, many highlights to share... but it's going to take me a while to sort through them!
This book presents interesting theories for the population growth of America. That this growth is necessary for the country to remain the world's premier power.
Honestly Matt should snip off the epilogue portion of the audio book and send a link every time someone on twitter tries to blast the premise of the book. Really thought provoking stuff. We deserve and can have nice things in this country, If only we thought we could accomplish anything.
A good primer on the reasons for and steps needed to get to one billion Americans. Yglesias writes the book with very brief explanations about how certain obstacles can be politically or technically overcome in this endeavor.
I think more time could have been spent on certain sections and I don't agree with all of his approaches, but I think this is an admirable goal for the U.S. and that we, as a nation, should be talking more about how to approach making one billion Americans a definite possibility.
I think more time could have been spent on certain sections and I don't agree with all of his approaches, but I think this is an admirable goal for the U.S. and that we, as a nation, should be talking more about how to approach making one billion Americans a definite possibility.
Excellent and thought-provoking book from everybody's favorite neoliberal shill, Matt Yglesias. There's a number of ideas from this book that I just want to shout from the rooftops: more mass transit! More immigration! Make it legal to build denser housing! It also addresses issues that I don't really have a solution for, like how to revive the faded cities of yesteryear.
Overall I'm not sure how many of these proposals are going to be implemented on a large scale and I would be shocked if our country actually did put in a concerted effort to grow to a population of one billion. However, we do need to recognize that if we want our country to remain competitive, we're going to need more people, and we should, at the very minimum, be smarter about how we're going to grow.
Overall I'm not sure how many of these proposals are going to be implemented on a large scale and I would be shocked if our country actually did put in a concerted effort to grow to a population of one billion. However, we do need to recognize that if we want our country to remain competitive, we're going to need more people, and we should, at the very minimum, be smarter about how we're going to grow.