Summarised by Centrist
According to commentator Jesse Mulligan, in Abundance, Democrat-aligned journalists Ezra Klein and Derek Thompson argue that progressive parties have become bureaucratic blockers instead of visionary builders.
This is an idea Mulligan believes will “dominate the political conversation” in the coming weeks.
Mulligan says the book explains why the Democrats failed in 2024 and why centre-left parties are losing touch with voters. “People want homes, safe streets and good transport,” he writes, “but we’ve made it nearly impossible to build them.”
For Mulligan, the book’s central insight is that voters are exhausted—not just conservatives—by endless red tape and regulatory deadlock.
He connects these ideas to New Zealand, pointing to the $44 million cost of a 3km cycleway in Auckland and the decade-long bureaucratic disaster of Get Wellington Moving.
He writes approvingly of Abundance’s core message: that the left needs to promise action and delivery, not just ideals. “Vote for us and we’ll blow up this bloated bureaucracy and start building rail lines and houses,” he summarises.
The book makes a wider point about housing, which Mulligan notes: “Housing is everything. Housing is the quantum field of urban life.”
While Abundance is an American book, Mulligan cites the Labour–National urban housing accord, Barbara Edmonds’ comments at a recent investment summit, and Chris Bishop’s fast-track bill as signs of cross-party appetite for reform—if only parties could agree on the details.
