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    Cover of One Billion Americans

    One Billion Americans

    Matthew Yglesias · 2020

    One Billion Americans: The Case for Thinking Bigger is a book by Matthew Yglesias, first published in 2020. One Billion Americans argues that America is not over-crowded and that the United States should aim to increase its population to 1 billion to counterbalance China and be "the greatest nation on Earth."

    From Wikipedia

    Other
    Open LibraryAmazon
    Stats for nerds
    4recommend
    9mentions
    9people
    2020–2024years
    44% recommend56% neutral

    Mentions per year

    20202021202220232024

    What Hacker News says

    1. bryanlarsenJun 2024
      The book One Billion Americans by Matthew Yglesias makes a very compelling case for immigration.
      thread
    2. vwoolfApr 2023
      The U.S. should reform immigration policy such that any skilled person can move here. The U.S. should reform housing policy to create housing abundance. One billion Americans is feasible and desirable (https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/21449512/matt-yglesias-on...).
      thread
    3. jseligerNov 2020
      A big problem that divides us is property renters versus owners: owners have spent the last several decades restricting access to property, and that's now raised the cost of the most productive metro areas to unacceptable levels: https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2012/03/the-ren... Many millions of people, especially but not exclusively the young, have in effect been gated out of prosperity.

      Matt Yglesias's new book One Billion Americans has a good discussion of the issue: https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2020/08/one-billion-american..., even if you don't buy his population-based premise.

      Until we can free our land markets, we're going to have a lot of political problems caused by people who (correctly) feel they can't afford to live.

      thread
    4. erichoceanOct 2020
      Agreed, but I would go further: we should immediately issue passports for everyone in the world who submits an online application without prejudice.

      There's a great book by Matthew Yglesias called One Billion Americans that discusses how important this is.

      Biden, get it done!

      thread
    5. specialistDec 2021
      We saw this coming. I read predictions of a right wing backlash to immigration as a kid. In the 80s.

      Even in the USA, the nation of immigrants, where we assimilate immigrants the best (comparatively), increased immigration has always leads to a reactionary backlash.

      Being very pro-immigration, a big of Matthew Yglesias's One Billion Americans thesis, I have no clue how to move forward.

      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One_Billion_Americans

      thread
    6. dionidiumNov 2021
      I can't read that article, because I don't have a WaPo login, but previous evidence indicates that people are having fewer children than they'd like to.

      See here:

      * https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/13/upshot/american-fertility...

      Matthew Yglesias also touches on this in this interview about his book, One Billion Americans, which argues (in part) for more pronatalist policies:

      * https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/21449512/matt-yglesias-on...

      It turns out that it's really difficult and expensive to raise children and more people will want to do it if you make it less so.

      thread

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