Roughly 18 months ago, Discourse Magazine, a publication here at Mercatus, started its series on the abundance agenda. Journalist Derek Thompson introduced the phrase “abundance agenda” in a 2022 column in The Atlantic
. Abundance represents the idea that we can still achieve great things through ingenuity, brilliant ideas, and free-market approaches to policy problems. In some corners of the internet, this word, abundance, has become a big part of policy discussion.
And we think it should be because the future is still incredibly bright. Many voices contend that the United States is in a state of managed decline, and we’re squabbling over who gets to captain the ship as it slowly sinks. But it doesn’t have to be that way. Scarcity is a public policy choice. Consider housing; policy choices on zoning have restricted the supply of homes in this country, and prices have risen. But we can choose to change that. Education abundance is all around us if
we know where to look. Barriers to economic growth can be removed, and prosperity will follow. From the banking system to the labor market, there are bold policy choices and ideas that spur growth.
And growth is good
. Nothing raises people out of poverty faster than strong economic growth. There are endless possibilities for human ingenuity to be expressed in free markets.
Optimism about what can be, both for the nation but also for our families, is inextricably part of American identity; it is one of the most fundamental sources of our success, and one of just a handful of vital beliefs that bind us together as a people. Widespread and systemic pessimism about our past, present and future strike at the core of who we are.
Ben Brophy Director of Marketing
Mercatus Center at George Mason University
Topics & Issues
Tom Hoenig says Freddie Mac’s plan to fund second mortgages isn’t a great idea in his public interest comment to the FHFA.
Classical liberalism transcends political divides and gives America a way forward, says Ben Klutsey in The Hill.
Veronique De Rugy testified before Congress last week, arguing that there’s a better way to incentivize saving than Child Savings Accounts.
Eli Kahn, Andrew Crouch, and Emily Hamilton show the value of collecting zoning data in an analysis of Northern VA. They found that while Northern Virginia still has stringent zoning requirements, it’s doing better than many other areas.
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