final paragraph:
In the American system, whoever can get government sign-off, licenses, and, generally, government subsidies gets to decide. In the Chinese model, to which the U.S. is compared unfavorably in the Abundance book when it comes to its ability to complete projects, the government there takes more of a leading role in setting economic strategy and driving projects forward. In Hudson Yards, and in the country at large, we’ve left it to casino moguls to fight over, while wondering why we never win.
Klein and Thompson have faced no opposition to their accurate claim that the U.S. ability to build large projects has deteriorated, even and particularly in blue states where hostile Republicans can’t be blamed. The question is whether the obstacle to that growth is well-intentioned regulations that give too much power to environmentalists, busybody neighbors known as NIMBYs, and labor unions, or whether it stems from concentrated financial power—in the form of billionaires, monopolies, or both—who benefit from stalled projects.
I wonder if it could be the one explanation that just so happens to be absent from bestseller newyourk times hotcake book, Abundance™?
“Hmmm who has the power? Poor people or rich people? I’m so stumped you guys!”
Deeply unserious.