Ezra Klein and Derek Thompson argue we've become a society that blocks building. Here's why abundance-thinking might be the most important idea of our decade.
Hyle Editorial·
Why Abundance by Ezra Klein and Derek Thompson will change how you think about everything. In 2024, the United States produced more solar power than the previous decade combined—yet we built just 25% of the housing we needed. We have the technology to solve climate change, housing crises, and energy scarcity. What we lack is permission to build.
This book landed like a thunderclap in policy circles, but its implications reach far beyond Washington. Klein and Thompson diagnose a fundamental imbalance in Western societies: we've become experts at stopping things and amateurs at creating them.
The question isn't whether we can build abundance. It's whether we can stop blocking it.
The Disease of Scarcity Thinking
Klein and Thompson's central argument is that progressive politics has become defined by what it opposes rather than what it builds. Environmentalism became about stopping pipelines rather than building green energy. Housing advocacy became about stopping displacement rather than building homes. Even technology criticism became about stopping AI rather than building beneficial applications.
This "politics of blocking" has deep institutional roots. The National Environmental Policy Act, passed in 1970, originally required environmental impact assessments for major projects. Decades of litigation have transformed it into a veto machine. A 2023 study found that the average infrastructure project now spends 4.5 years in environmental review before a single shovel hits dirt.
[!INSIGHT] The progressive movement won the culture of critique but lost the culture of construction. We developed sophisticated tools for saying "no" and almost none for saying "yes, and here's how."
The authors document how this dynamic plays out across sectors. California has built virtually no new water infrastructure since the 1970s, despite population growth and recurring droughts. Nuclear power plants take 15 years to permit and construct. Even bike lanes require years of community meetings.
The NIMBY Industrial Complex
Perhaps no area illustrates abundance-blocking better than housing. Thompson's earlier work on "the NIMBY industrial complex" provides the foundation. When a single neighbor can file a CEQA lawsuit blocking a 100-unit affordable housing project, the system has prioritized individual veto power over collective wellbeing.
“*"The people who show up to planning meetings are not representative of the community. They are the people who hate change. The people who would benefit from new housing”
— future residents who don't yet live there—have no voice at all."
San Francisco provides a case study in pathological blocking. Between 2010 and 2020, the city added 120,000 jobs but permitted just 50,000 housing units. The result? Median rents exceeded $3,700, pushing teachers, nurses, and service workers into brutal commutes or out of the region entirely.
The Abundance Agenda
Klein and Thompson don't simply diagnose the problem—they propose a fundamental reorientation. The "abundance agenda" means building more of what society needs: clean energy, housing, transit, and yes, even AI infrastructure. It means celebrating construction rather than treating it as a necessary evil.
The authors point to surprising success stories. Texas built more renewable energy than California by treating wind and solar as economic opportunities rather than moral tests. Japan rebuilt its nuclear capacity after Fukushima with streamlined approvals. South Korea built an entire semiconductor industry in three decades through coordinated industrial policy.
[!NOTE] The abundance framework draws heavily on "supply-side progressivism," an intellectual current gaining traction among younger policy thinkers who grew frustrated with blocking-oriented politics.
Technology as Abundance Multiplier
The book's most provocative sections tackle technology. Klein and Thompson argue that the slowdown in productivity growth since the 1970s reflects not scientific limits but institutional blockage. We could have had cheap nuclear power, abundant housing near transit, and high-speed rail decades ago.
AI represents a critical test case. The blocking impulse urges caution, regulation, and moratoriums. The abundance framework asks: how do we build beneficial AI faster? How do we ensure the gains are widely shared rather than captured by incumbents?
[!INSIGHT] Every technology that improved human welfare—electricity, vaccines, the internet—faced opposition from those who would lose status or profit from its adoption. Abundance-thinking means consciously choosing to accelerate progress rather than unconsciously defending stasis.
The authors are particularly sharp on the relationship between abundance and equity. Blocking new housing doesn't help low-income residents—it traps them in scarcity. Blocking clean energy infrastructure doesn't help the climate—it delays decarbonization. Progressive goals require progressive supply.
Implications: What Changes When You See Abundance
Reading this book rewired something fundamental in how I evaluate policy proposals. The question is no longer "does this stop a bad thing?" but "does this enable a good thing?" The blocking reflex is seductive because it feels like prudence. Abundance requires the courage to build.
This framework applies beyond politics. In organizations, the blocking culture manifests as approval processes, risk-averse management, and the institutionalization of "no." In personal life, it appears as overthinking, perfectionism, and the fear of shipping imperfect work.
The abundance mindset asks: what would you build if you knew you couldn't be stopped?
Key Takeaway
Klein and Thompson's Abundance is a manifesto for the builders. It argues that our biggest problems stem not from a lack of solutions but from a surplus of vetoes. The path forward requires rebuilding our capacity to construct—to say yes, to permit, to build, to ship. The future belongs to those who create, not those who block.
Sources: Klein, E. & Thompson, D. (2024). Abundance. Avid Reader Press; Thompson, D. "The NIMBY Industrial Complex." The Atlantic (2022); Congressional Research Service, "NEPA Implementation Report" (2023); California Housing Partnership, "Housing Needs Report" (2024)
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