Why Good Ideas Aren’t Always Enough: Unpacking the Real Barriers to Progress
In a world drowning in TED Talks and innovation manifestos, it’s easy to believe that the biggest hurdle to solving our thorniest problems—like skyrocketing housing costs, climate inaction, or crumbling infrastructure—is simply a lack of clever solutions. But what if I told you that we already have plenty of those? What if the real villain isn’t a scarcity of ideas, but a tangle of invisible roadblocks that turn promise into paralysis?
That’s the provocative core of Abundance: The Future Is Brighter Than You Think by Ezra Klein and Derek Thompson, published in late 2024 to much acclaim (including a spot on Barack Obama’s favorite books list for 2025). In a standout section—aptly titled “Why Good Ideas Aren’t Always Enough”—the authors dissect how America’s progressive impulses, once engines of bold change, have morphed into guardians of the status quo. Drawing on everything from zoning wars in San Francisco to stalled solar farms, they argue for an “abundance agenda”: a liberalism that doesn’t just protect what’s here, but fearlessly builds what’s next. As someone who’s watched good policies fizzle in the face of red tape, this hit home. Let’s dive in.
The Allure of the “Good Idea” Myth
Picture this: A city planner unveils a blueprint for affordable high-rises that could house thousands. Cheers erupt. Or imagine engineers pitching massive solar arrays to power entire states with clean energy. Sounds revolutionary, right? Klein and Thompson start here, celebrating the intellectual firepower we do have. Their book brims with examples of innovations ready to deploy—modular housing that slashes construction time, high-risk research grants that could unlock fusion energy, or streamlined permitting that turns “not in my backyard” into “yes, in our future.”
Yet, as the authors quip (in a phrase that echoes throughout the book), “these are all good ideas, but…” The “but” is where the magic dies. Productivity growth in the U.S. has stagnated not because we’ve run out of low-hanging fruit, but because we’ve built a system that chokes on its own safeguards. Since the 1970s, well-intentioned reforms—like environmental impact statements under NEPA or California’s CEQA—have layered on so many checks that what was meant to prevent harm now routinely blocks progress.
The Bottlenecks: Where Good Intentions Go Bad
Klein and Thompson don’t pull punches. They frame these barriers as a “progressive paradox”: a movement born to expand opportunity now clings to stasis out of fear. Here’s a breakdown of the culprits they spotlight:
- Regulatory Overload and Lawsuit Lotteries: Take infrastructure. Building transmission lines to ferry wind and solar power across states? Good idea. But endless environmental reviews and inevitable lawsuits from advocacy groups (often funded by those same groups) can delay projects for decades. In California, CEQA has been weaponized not just by NIMBYs (Not In My Backyard folks), but by unions extracting “greenmail”—no-bid contracts in exchange for dropping suits. Result? Solar panels get built abroad while we pay neighbors to take our excess power.
- Local Resistance and the Housing Trap: In liberal bastions like New York and San Francisco, zoning laws and community vetoes lock in scarcity. Even when cities ease rules for converting offices to apartments (a post-pandemic win), sky-high permitting costs—up to $1,500 per square foot in SF—make it unprofitable. Rent controls exacerbate this, covering 60% of units in some areas and driving up market rates elsewhere. Families flee to Texas not just for cheaper homes, but for a life unburdened by 420,000+ state regulations that inflate everything from groceries to gas.
- Funding Biases and Risk Aversion in Innovation: Science agencies like the NIH pour 99.5% of funds into “safe” bets with predictable (but meh) payoffs, starving high-risk moonshots. We invent breakthroughs—like the mRNA tech behind COVID vaccines—but fail to scale them domestically. Meanwhile, Germany’s aggressive renewable rollout leaves U.S. deployment in the dust.
- Accountability Gaps and Political Horse-Trading: Nonprofits peddle discredited homelessness models without consequence, high-speed rail routes zigzag due to donor favors, and “checkism” (just writing bigger checks without fixing supply) props up failure. It’s a system where inputs (spending, rules) trump outputs (actual homes built, emissions cut).
These aren’t abstract; they’re why a state with endless sunshine exports clean energy credits while residents pay premium utility bills. Or why bold ideas for nurse licensing across states gather dust amid labor shortages.
Breaking Free: Toward an Abundance Mindset
The genius of Abundance isn’t in diagnosing the disease—plenty of books do that—but in prescribing a cure that’s both pragmatic and politically savvy. Klein and Thompson call for a “liberalism that builds,” urging Democrats to reclaim growth from the right while conservatives embrace smart government. Key prescriptions:
- Output Over Inputs: Measure success by results—units housed, megawatts deployed—not dollars spent or forms filed. Ditch “checkism” for supply-side fixes, like parking garages and subways to ease traffic, or cross-state compacts to flood markets with skilled workers.
- Fast-Track and Trade-Offs: Empower leaders to waive rules in crises, à la Pennsylvania’s governor who rebuilt I-95 in 12 days after a collapse. Accept hard choices: A bit more temporary pollution for car plants that employ thousands, or “fake” endangered species listings that block housing but protect no one.
- Reform Science and Scale Boldly: Triple down on high-risk research funding. For greens, prioritize storage and grids over subsidies—turn invention into deployment.
- Accountability Revolution: Fire underperformers, audit nonprofits, and decertify obstructive unions. And yes, revisit sacred cows like rent control or overzealous labor rules.
It’s not deregulation for its own sake; it’s market-enhancing governance that makes abundance the default.
A Call to Build, Not Just Dream
Reading Abundance felt like a wake-up call for anyone tired of “what if” scenarios that never materialize. Klein and Thompson remind us: Progress isn’t inevitable, but it’s possible—if we stop romanticizing good ideas and start wrestling with the messy reality of getting them done. In an era of populist temptations on left and right, their vision of abundance isn’t utopian; it’s urgently practical. It could lower costs, cool the planet, and rebuild trust in government as a builder, not a blocker.
If you’re in policy, planning, or just frustrated with how things aren’t getting better, grab the book. And next time you hear a “good idea,” ask: What’s the bottleneck? Then, let’s fix it. What’s one barrier you’ll tackle this year? Drop it in the comments—abundance starts with conversation.