<description>&lt;p&gt;What happens when a liberal thinker shifts his attention from polarization to economic abundance? Ezra Klein’s new book with Derek Thompson, &lt;em&gt;&lt;span style= "mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-theme-font: major-fareast;"&gt; Abundance&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/em&gt;, argues for an agenda of increased housing, infrastructure, clean energy, and innovation. But does abundance clash with polarization—or offer a way through it?&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;In this conversation, Ezra and Tyler discuss how the abundance agenda interacts with political polarization, whether it's is an elite-driven movement, &lt;span class="TextRun SCXW18016755 BCX0" lang="EN-US" xml:lang="EN-US" data-contrast="auto"&gt;&lt;span class= "NormalTextRun SCXW18016755 BCX0" data-ccp-parastyle= "Normal (Web)"&gt;where Ezra favors NIMBYism&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;, the geographic distribution of US cities, an abundance-driven approach to health care, what to do about fertility decline, how the U.S. federal government might prepare for AGI, whether mass layoffs in government are justified, Ezra's recommended travel destinations, and more.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p class="MsoNormal"&gt;&lt;span style= "font-size: 12pt; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"&gt;&lt;em&gt;Read a &lt;a href= "https://conversationswithtyler.com/episodes/ezra-klein-3/"&gt;full transcript&lt;/a&gt; enhanced with helpful links, or watch the &lt;a href="https://youtu.be/PYzh3Fb8Ln0"&gt;full video&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p class="p1"&gt;&lt;span style= "font-size: 12pt; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"&gt;&lt;em&gt;Recorded March 7th, 2025&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style= "font-size: 12pt; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"&gt;&lt;em&gt;.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p class="p1"&gt;&lt;span style= "font-size: 12pt; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"&gt;Help keep the show ad free by &lt;a href= "https://mercatus.donorsupport.co/page/podcastgift?utm_source=cwt+podcast&amp;utm_medium=podcast&amp;utm_campaign=shownotes"&gt; donating&lt;/a&gt; today!&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p class="p1"&gt;&lt;span style= "font-size: 12pt; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"&gt;&lt;strong&gt; Other ways to connect&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;ul&gt; &lt;li class="p1" style= "font-size: 12pt; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"&gt; &lt;span style= "font-size: 12pt; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"&gt;Follow us on &lt;a href= "https://twitter.com/cowenconvos"&gt;X&lt;/a&gt; and &lt;a href= "https://www.instagram.com/cowenconvos/?hl=en"&gt;Instagram&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/li&gt; &lt;li class="p1" style= "font-size: 12pt; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"&gt; &lt;span style= "font-size: 12pt; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"&gt;Follow &lt;a href="https://twitter.com/tylercowen"&gt;Tyler&lt;/a&gt; on X&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/li&gt; &lt;li class="p1" style= "font-size: 12pt; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"&gt; &lt;span style= "font-size: 12pt; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"&gt;Follow &lt;a href="https://x.com/ezraklein"&gt;Ezra&lt;/a&gt; on X&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/li&gt; &lt;li style= "font-size: 12pt; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"&gt; &lt;span style= "font-size: 12pt; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"&gt;&lt;a class="c-link" href="https://mercatus.tfaforms.net/5060931" target="_blank" rel= "noopener" data-stringify-link="https://www.tfaforms.com/5060931" data-sk="tooltip_parent"&gt;Sign up for our newsletter&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/li&gt; &lt;li style= "font-size: 12pt; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"&gt; &lt;span style= "font-size: 12pt; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"&gt;Join our &lt;a href= "https://discord.gg/JAVWP7vTxt"&gt;Discord&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/li&gt; &lt;li class="p1" style= "font-size: 12pt; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"&gt; &lt;span style= "font-size: 12pt; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"&gt;Email us: &lt;a class="c-link" tabindex="-1" href= "mailto:cowenconvos@mercatus.gmu.edu" target="_blank" rel= "noopener noreferrer" data-stringify-link= "mailto:cowenconvos@mercatus.gmu.edu" data-sk="tooltip_parent" aria-haspopup="menu" aria-expanded="false" data-remove-tab-index= "true"&gt;cowenconvos@mercatus.gmu.edu&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/li&gt; &lt;li class="p1" style= "font-size: 12pt; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"&gt; &lt;span style= "font-size: 12pt; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"&gt;Learn more about Conversations with Tyler and other Mercatus Center podcasts &lt;a href= "https://www.mercatus.org/podcasts"&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/li&gt; &lt;/ul&gt; &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;span style= "font-size: 12pt; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"&gt;Photo Credit: (c) Lucas Foglia&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;</description>

Conversations with Tyler

Mercatus Center at George Mason University

Ezra Klein on the Abundance Agenda

MAR 19, 202568 MIN
Conversations with Tyler

Ezra Klein on the Abundance Agenda

MAR 19, 202568 MIN

Description

What happens when a liberal thinker shifts his attention from polarization to economic abundance? Ezra Klein’s new book with Derek Thompson, Abundance, argues for an agenda of increased housing, infrastructure, clean energy, and innovation. But does abundance clash with polarization—or offer a way through it?

In this conversation, Ezra and Tyler discuss how the abundance agenda interacts with political polarization, whether it's is an elite-driven movement, where Ezra favors NIMBYism, the geographic distribution of US cities, an abundance-driven approach to health care, what to do about fertility decline, how the U.S. federal government might prepare for AGI, whether mass layoffs in government are justified, Ezra's recommended travel destinations, and more.

Read a full transcript enhanced with helpful links, or watch the full video.

Recorded March 7th, 2025.

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Photo Credit: (c) Lucas Foglia