Derek Thompson: Democrats Must Change

The Atlantic's Derek Thompson urges Democrats to embrace more libertarian, pro-growth policies in his new book.

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Derek Thompson: Democrats Must Change

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Derek Thompson, a senior writer at The Atlantic and co-author (with Ezra Klein) of Abundance: The New Politics of Growth, joins this episode of Just Asking Questions to make the case that if Democrats want to win in the future, they must first learn to build. In this conversation, Thompson challenges Democrats to reimagine themselves as the party of pragmatic progress, rather than redistribution.

We wanted to bring Thompson on the show now because the tension inside the Democratic Party is reaching a breaking point. In the wake of disappointing results and growing disillusionment with blue-state governance, a growing chorus—including Thompson—is calling for a course correction. But can Democrats overcome their own internal roadblocks—union entrenchment, environmental regulation gridlock, and NIMBYism—to actually deliver on that promise?

This interview was recorded on April 8, 2025.

Sources Referenced:

• Abundance by Derek Thompson and Ezra Klein
• Then-Gov. Jerry Brown in 2012 pitching California's Rail Project
• Cities aren't back - by Jed Kolko - Slow Boring
• Chart: Which US states generate the most solar and wind energy?
• Solar panel prices have fallen by around 20% every time global capacity doubled - Our World in Data
• Energy Mix - Our World in Data
• Milton Friedman's warning to DOGE

Chapters

• 00:00 Coming up…
• 00:17 Introduction and framing the abundance agenda
• 05:00 Free trade, Trump, and economic polarization
• 10:00 Elevator pitch for the book Abundance
• 15:00 California's failure to deliver liberal abundance
• 20:00 The housing crisis and how liberals should fix it
• 25:00 Suburbanization, urban decline, and market logic
• 30:00 California High-Speed Rail: what went wrong?
• 35:00 Is high-speed rail a true public good?
• 40:00 Clean energy progress in Texas vs California
• 45:00 Solar, wind, and battery breakthroughs
• 50:00 Carbon externalities and the path to clean energy
• 55:00 Can abundance work within the Democratic Party?
• 01:00:00 Elon Musk, Doge, and ideological contradictions
• 01:05:00 Should Operation Warp Speed should be a model for other stuff?

• Producer: John Osterhoudt

Comments

[InsaneTrollLogic (Sarcasia’s disloyal opposition)]

At this point, I’d rather the Democrats be replaced as a party.

Factio Democratica delenda est.

[Strawmancasmic, Town Drunk and Gay for Booze]

I prefer the term ‘cleansed’.

[Efforidentalistionicker]

democrats are gay

[Vernon Depner]

If one party dies, the other one will, too, and there will be a complete realignment. The Ds and Rs can exist only in relationship to each other. They're like Tom Doniphon and Liberty Valance.

[Thought about __ all my life]

Yet the opposite is how they came into being.

[sarcasmic]

Never thought I'd see a time when Republicans proudly reject both economic and personal liberty, resulting in libertarians having more in common with Democrats. The world has gone crazy.

[Stupid Government Tricks]

You haven't seen it yet. This one guy is a Democrat, the other millions are fakes?

[sarcasmic]

At this moment in time, from what I've seen, the Democratic Party has more respect for liberty, both personal and economic, than Trump's Republican Party. Maybe the GOP will get back to its roots after Trump is no longer the party's god emperor. I hope so, but doubt it.

[Don't look at me! (No longer muted!)]

Poor sarc.

[Bertram Guilfoyle]

They also respect the constitution.

[JesseAz (Prime Meanster of Sarcasia)]

And bookmarked.

It's like reality has no function in your brain.

The party of censorship, regulations, going after political opponents, gun control, etc is for personal freedom?

The party of higher taxes, regulations, debanking, etc is pro economy?

You're a fucking idiot lol.

[Idaho-Bob]

You're a fucking idiot lol.

He's a paid DNC shill. I know, it's redundant.

[Strawmancasmic, Town Drunk and Gay for Booze]

If Sarc is being paid for his posts, the DNC made a bad investment. But then, they spent over a billion on Kamala. So they’re not afraid to blow mo ey with zero return.

[TJJ2000]

^Indeed [phone].

Sarc and most Democrats biggest mental illness is Self-Projection.
They literally blame everything **they themselves do** on those 'icky' people.

[Marshal]

Maybe the GOP will get back to its roots after Trump is no longer the party's god emperor.

Amusingly sarc was just as pro-Democrat before Trump was even a political candidate. Now he rehabilitates the entire past Rep party to use against the current party reminiscent of how every Rep candidate is Hitler when running but becomes reasonable afterward to claim how far the current Rep has fallen.

[JesseAz (Prime Meanster of Sarcasia)]

Thanks Ms. Maddow.

[DesigNate]

“libertarians having more in common with Democrats.”

Are you high? (NTTAWWT)

[Thought about __ all my life]

So were you living in the forest suckled by wolves when Biden did that? Libertarians , where are you coming from?

Colorado's 'Libertarian' Governor Signs Massive Gun ...

Townhall
https://townhall.com › tomknighton › 2025/04/11 › col...
3 days ago — However, his latest move, signing a gun control bill into law, goes beyond what anyone could reasonably think of as "libertarian." .

At some point you will have to face the illogic of both defining people by their affiliation and defining by what they do
TRUMP IS FOR ECONOMIC AND PERSONAL LIBERTY. He is acknowleding Easter and Passover whereas you were oh so happy when at this time of year BIDEN celebrated
set Transgender Day of Visibility (TDOV) to be held during Easter season

[Nobartium]

Never going to happen without a fuckton of violence. Their voters and their donors don't mix.

[VULGAR MADMAN]

Their donors are encouraging these retards to commit violence.

[Super Scary]

Republicans did it first so it's ok.

[Sarah Palin's Buttplug - Jan 6 = 9/11 (same motive)]

The loudest faction of the Democratic Party are the whiny progressives. It is very bad PR for them.

Take the fact that most Dems are solidly pro-Israel. But the media loved to report on the pro-Hamas loudmouths. Also Medicare for All is the progressive wet dream yet Biden rejected it in his 2020 campaign. Progressives were openly hostile to Obama for cutting the deficit. They blamed him for the "cat food commission". Obama incurred the wrath of all the populists for his support of free trade.

But the culture wars have been solidly won by the MAGA crowd. Trannies, aborto-freaks, vermin, etc - all won by the GOP.

[Bertram Guilfoyle]

Take the fact that most Dems are solidly pro-Israel.

The Gaza pier aid to Hamas operation was conducted during which administration again?

[Sarah Palin's Buttplug - Jan 6 = 9/11 (same motive)]

Genocide Joe?

[Bertram Guilfoyle]

most Dems are solidly pro-Israel

...while aiding the guys who slaughtered and kidnapped their people.

[Strawmancasmic, Town Drunk and Gay for Booze]

Well yes, Biden did in fact do a lot to cause the 10/7 attacks on innocent Israelis, by finding Iran. Also, you peddle child pornography.

[MasterThief]

Normie dems are probably pro-Israel. The activists and influencers in the party are not.

[Marshal]

Thompson challenges Democrats to reimagine themselves as the party of pragmatic progress, rather than redistribution.

The choice of "reimagine" accepts there will be no substantive change, only a change to their image. I get why a left winger would want Dems to get better at presenting their agenda in a less obviously net detrimental way, but why would libertarians?

[JesseAz (Prime Meanster of Sarcasia)]

It's the long running hope of beltway libertarians to become allies with the left. Why they ignore so much of the bad shit the left does.

[Bertram Guilfoyle]

The dems best course of action is to replace David Hogg with Shrike.

[Strawmancasmic, Town Drunk and Gay for Booze]

So you’re saying it’s time for the DNC to be openly and aggressively pro MAPedo?

[MasterThief]

He doesn't actually argue against democrat extremism in policy or culture. He wants their marketing to sound a bit more moderate.

[DesigNate]

“Libertarians” have had a hardon for getting the left to like them for decades now. “libertarians”, not so much.

Boggles the mind, but it does explain the steep divide in the commentariat (and the difference between r/libertarian and r/libertarianmeme).

[JFree]

Liz Wolfe is right about one big problem re housing in the US. We have turned 'homeownership' into the primary way to wealth. It wasn't always that way. It isn't that way in many countries with more affordable housing (meaning housing as a % of income). And that view leads to tons of subsidies and distortions re housing that ensure house prices will always rise faster than income.

The other problem is we chose zoning based on highly restrictive categories - and ensuring that only big developers/banks/projects could afford to tweak those restrictions. Initially - overtly race. Once those changed, then we made those restrictions more - arbitrary and local. Only the US and Canada do what we do. France has only three or so zoning categories - low density, mid density, high density. Japan has twelve categories - compared to Seattle with 285 - but very little local control and land owners CAN build residential units in eleven of those zones.

[Roberta]

It's true, and bizarre, that homeownership is being so treated. So it pays to look for motivation for this social outcome.

A lot of it is just what this country just stumbled into as a result of positive feedback. Not a lot can be influenced there without making other things worse; never happen. Most powerful thing that can be conceived as a "handle" there is mortgage interest tax treatment.

Some of it is deliberately trying to encourage conservatism. Although there's some cause and effect in both directions, the effect of owning one's home does tend to push the residents toward conservatism.

Some of it is our rulers wanting to convince us we're getting rich to a greater degree than we are.

[Zeb]

Well, they will either change so they can keep roughly half of the national vote, or they will disappear as a real party. Given that the two dominant parties have managed to stick around for over 150 years and survived various political realignments over that time, I would put my money on their survival. But on the other hand, if there has been a time when the party might die, this is probably it.

[Anastasia Beaverhausen]

Would it kill Reason to provide a transcript?

[Rick James]

It's on youtube, so if you know how to internet you can get a rudimentary one there.

[Rick James]

. But can Democrats overcome their own internal roadblocks—union entrenchment, environmental regulation gridlock, and NIMBYism—to actually deliver on that promise?

What about the racism? What about the anti-science scientism? What about freedom of speech? Individual rights over group rights?

[Daddyhill]

Another good prescription for the ills of the Democratic Party, but hardly original anymore. To the question "Can Dems Change?", the answer is "Certainly." We've done it before. The post-Civil War Democratic Party reinvented itself in the New Deal and the civil rights movement. Also in Vietnam and the repeal of Glass-Steagall. Shit happens. But the Party has always evolved more or less in the direction of liberty, equality, and brother (and sister) hood. In contrast the GOP has always evolved more or less in the direction of capitalism for the lower classes and socialism for the wealthy and powerful. So a fair companion label for a post like this might be, "Can GOP Change?"

[Use the Schwartz]

"We've done it before."

You got a mouse in your pocket?

[Mickey Rat]

"But the Party has always evolved more or less in the direction of liberty..."

Beg pardon?

[Thought about __ all my life]

No public servant's first responsibility is to the party !!!
And asking them to be more libertarian is silly.
Over and over I see Libs becoming 'crazy Democratic' in their actual actions

Colorado's 'Libertarian' Governor Signs Massive Gun Control Measure
Tom Knighton
Tom Knighton | April 11, 2025

[Strawmancasmic, Town Drunk and Gay for Booze]

So dreamy!

[TJJ2000]

If Democrats did all those things what would prevent them from being identified as Republicans?

A political-party forms from like-minded ideas and the idea Democrats share is a HUGE government of THEFT and [Na]tional So[zi]al[ism]. Their championing of 'democracy' is just the means to that end in conquering the very definition of the USA (US Constitution) for their [Na]tional So[zi]alist Empire.

Too many people play mental-dissonance about the German Nazi's. They weren't aliens from another planet. They were just common people of a party who had the [Na]tional So[zi]alist religion that 'Gov-Guns makes SHIT' mentality. The genocide was just the post-effect of their economic ignorance.

[Roberta]

In many parts of the country, election results between Democrats and Republicans are so lastingly lopsided that there's no incentive to change. In other parts, outcomes are so close that each side thinks they're so close to winning, they'd rather not take a chance on changing.