DiscoverBig ThinkSpeed vs. process: Why America chose wrong | Derek Thompson
Speed vs. process: Why America chose wrong | Derek Thompson

Speed vs. process: Why America chose wrong | Derek Thompson

Update: 2025-09-12
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Description

"I'd prefer to think about a different axis, which is, should government be more or less effective? Should government work faster or slower?"

Why can’t America build anymore? The US has become astonishingly slow (and increasingly expensive) when delivering basic infrastructure. Journalist and Abundance co-author Derek Thompson explores how a tangled web of bureaucracy, overregulation, and political dysfunction has paralyzed our ability to execute.


Chapters:
00:00 Why can’t we build?
01:02 Is DOGE making the government efficient?
02:55 Institutions and blame
04:29 The many axis of politics
07:03 Choosing speed over process


About Derek Thompson:

Derek Thompson is a staff writer at The Atlantic and host of the podcast Plain English. He is the author of Hit Makers and the co-author of Abundance alongside Ezra Klein, which explores the case for renewing the politics of plenty in the modern world.



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Speed vs. process: Why America chose wrong | Derek Thompson

Speed vs. process: Why America chose wrong | Derek Thompson

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