One Billion Americans
The Case for Thinking Bigger
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4.2 • 20 Ratings
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- $9.99
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- $9.99
Publisher Description
NATIONAL BESTSELLER
What would actually make America great: more people.
If the most challenging crisis in living memory has shown us anything, it’s that America has lost the will and the means to lead. We can’t compete with the huge population clusters of the global marketplace by keeping our population static or letting it diminish, or with our crumbling transit and unaffordable housing. The winner in the future world is going to have more—more ideas, more ambition, more utilization of resources, more people.
Exactly how many Americans do we need to win? According to Matthew Yglesias, one billion.
From one of our foremost policy writers, One Billion Americans is the provocative yet logical argument that if we aren’t moving forward, we’re losing. Vox founder Yglesias invites us to think bigger, while taking the problems of decline seriously. What really contributes to national prosperity should not be controversial: supporting parents and children, welcoming immigrants and their contributions, and exploring creative policies that support growth—like more housing, better transportation, improved education, revitalized welfare, and climate change mitigation. Drawing on examples and solutions from around the world, Yglesias shows not only that we can do this, but why we must.
Making the case for massive population growth with analytic rigor and imagination, One Billion Americans issues a radical but undeniable challenge: Why not do it all, and stay on top forever?
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
In this provocative treatise, Vox cofounder Yglesias (Heads in the Sand) argues that a large-scale population increase brought about by higher birth rates and relaxed immigration policies will improve America's overall wealth, health, happiness, and productivity. He explains that the country's current population decline makes it difficult to keep pace with China economically; examines how child-rearing costs have prevented people from having as many children as they want to (or any at all); and weighs options for alleviating those costs, including universal child subsidies and more liberal parental leave policies. Meanwhile, immigration benefits American society, according to Yglesias, by contributing new ideas and technologies and, in some cases, lowering health care costs. An increased population, he writes, could help to revitalize cities and towns that have suffered declines in recent years, such as Baltimore, Cleveland, and Detroit, and spur improvements in education, transportation, and housing. Though he points out that promising alternative energy solutions are already available or in the works, and that the U.S. "does not hold the fate of global atmospheric conditions solely in its hands," Yglesias's attempt to persuade environmentalists concerned that more people means more emissions isn't entirely convincing. Still, his views on immigration and urban renewal are well researched and convincing. This optimistic call to action is worth considering.
