As you might expect, I just finished Abundance, by Ezra Klein and Derek Thompson. This book argues that progressives have inadvertently (or sometimes, advertently) created a governance system that blocks building the things America needs most—housing, clean energy, infrastructure, and innovation. The book calls for a shift in policy thinking that prioritizes creating more of what people need rather than focusing solely on subsidies and redistribution. This “abundance agenda” reorients politics around solving problems through increased supply—building more housing, generating more clean energy, and fostering innovation—while reforming a system that has become trapped in procedural gridlock that benefits those who already have resources at the expense of those who don’t.
Right now, I’m reading Stuck: How the Privileged and Propertied Broke the Engine of American Opportunity, by Yoni Appelbaum. He argues that America’s once-revolutionary promise of geographic mobility—the ability to move somewhere new and reinvent yourself—has been systematically undermined by discriminatory zoning, housing policies, and private-sector practices that have trapped generations in poverty. The book traces how this freedom of movement was attacked through various measures designed to segregate populations, from laws targeting Chinese Americans in 19th-century California to policies trapping Black families in places like Flint, Michigan—all resulting in skyrocketing housing prices, deepened political divides, and entrenched inequality. Appelbaum says these barriers to mobility share a common cause and offers practical solutions to restore Americans’ ability to move and pursue opportunity again. If you don’t want to read a whole book, check out this podcast episode from American Prestige, in which a couple of Marxist historians press Appelbaum on his thesis. It’s a good discussion.
I read fiction for fun, too! But I’m in a slump and nothing I’ve read lately has been fun enough to recommend. I am open to suggestions!