Matt Yglesias

On this episode, we talk to Vox co-founder and noted political and economics journalist Matt Yglesias about his new book One Billion Americans: The Case for Thinking Bigger. Matt argues that the U.S. should take active steps  — allowing greater immigration and adopting a suite of policies that encourage people to have children — to increase the size of the U.S. population to one billion.  Doing so, he argues, would improve the U.S. economy and allow the country to remain the most powerful nation in the world. The book then discusses a number of other policies that would have to change, from transportation to housing to environmental policy, to accommodate the increased population.  We discuss the nationalist framing of the book, the politics of increasing the housing supply, mitigating climate change, the stability of American political institutions and the future of local governance in an age of national media.

Also, hang on to the end for a little surprise: a bonus question from David! Here’s a hint: Sveriges Riksbank hasn’t established the answer to this question yet.