Does Scaling Up Make It Worse?

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If i think of the well governed countries in the world, it seems to me that most of them are pretty small. So if we move to a billion people, are we lowering the quality of government in this country, and by how much? I don't know. Probably the right solution has something to do with federalism, but it's definitely a different book as to why american federalism does not deliver on its promise in the way that we might think it should....

Matt Yglesias joined Tyler for a wide-ranging conversation on his vision for a bigger, less politically polarized America outlined in his new book One Billion Americans: The Case for Thinking Bigger.

They discussed why it’s easier to grow Tokyo than New York City, the governance issues of increasing urban populations, what Tyler got right about pro-immigration arguments, how to respond to declining fertility rates, why he’d be happy to see more people going to church (even though he’s not religious), why liberals and conservatives should take marriage incentive programs more seriously, what larger families would mean for feminism, why people should read Robert Nozick, whether the YIMBY movement will be weakened by COVID-19, how New York City will bounce back, why he’s long on Minneapolis, how to address constitutional ruptures, how to attract more competent people to state and local governments, what he’s learned growing up in a family full of economists, his mother’s wisdom about visual design and more.

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Recorded August 21st, 2020 Other ways to connect

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