Ezra Klein

is visible and the more you have process that is complex and delay oriented but also in the shadows you have to know the planning meeting is happening you have to know how the notice and comment period is works the more i think what you have done is open your system to all kinds of capture how do you take that

is visible and the more you have process that is complex and delay oriented but also in the shadows you have to know the planning meeting is happening you have to know how the notice and comment period is works the more i think what you have done is open your system to all kinds of capture how do you take that

We can talk about another example. Because what you just said about the cost of construction is important. I want to throw this to you. Because this, I think, is where it gets even harder. Zephyr just said, look, one of the reasons you're going to have a higher cost of housing construction in upstate New York than Texas is...

We can talk about another example. Because what you just said about the cost of construction is important. I want to throw this to you. Because this, I think, is where it gets even harder. Zephyr just said, look, one of the reasons you're going to have a higher cost of housing construction in upstate New York than Texas is...

We use union labor laws or we use prevailing wage laws, depending on what you're looking at. And the more I've dug into this, the more I have come to see that in blue states or under democratic governments, we have made the cost of public construction very high. The reason I started with an example about why is it more to make publicly subsidized affordable housing?

We use union labor laws or we use prevailing wage laws, depending on what you're looking at. And the more I've dug into this, the more I have come to see that in blue states or under democratic governments, we have made the cost of public construction very high. The reason I started with an example about why is it more to make publicly subsidized affordable housing?

Why does that cost more than market rate housing per square foot in California? Why is it much more than it costs in Texas? All these rules, the government has placed upon itself. They add delay and they add cost, which if it all then got done would be fine. But sometimes like in high speed rail in California, it doesn't.

Why does that cost more than market rate housing per square foot in California? Why is it much more than it costs in Texas? All these rules, the government has placed upon itself. They add delay and they add cost, which if it all then got done would be fine. But sometimes like in high speed rail in California, it doesn't.

How do you think about the cost of construction in a place like San Francisco?

How do you think about the cost of construction in a place like San Francisco?

I think it is underappreciated how differently Europe does government. than America. We took a pretty different path from countries that I think we imagined to be similar. People often say, well, of course you can't build subways in New York City. It's a big old city now. But they do it in Paris, which is an older city.

I think it is underappreciated how differently Europe does government. than America. We took a pretty different path from countries that I think we imagined to be similar. People often say, well, of course you can't build subways in New York City. It's a big old city now. But they do it in Paris, which is an older city.

And I always say, I say it in the book, the difference can't be unions because these countries have higher union density than America does. It is a difference in the way the government acts and approaches. Do you have a view on sort of what the key differences are, but more the point why America and Europe are took such different pathways in the back half of the 20th century.

And I always say, I say it in the book, the difference can't be unions because these countries have higher union density than America does. It is a difference in the way the government acts and approaches. Do you have a view on sort of what the key differences are, but more the point why America and Europe are took such different pathways in the back half of the 20th century.

I think it has been more recent that there's a sort of appreciation that something has gone wrong. It's like these examples have stacked up, the Big Dig, the Second Avenue subway, high-speed rail.

I think it has been more recent that there's a sort of appreciation that something has gone wrong. It's like these examples have stacked up, the Big Dig, the Second Avenue subway, high-speed rail.

And I mean, it takes time to realize you've gotten into a hole.

And I mean, it takes time to realize you've gotten into a hole.

One of the things I am trying to do in the book and in my reporting across these domains, because look, rural broadband is different than Second Avenue subway. Second Avenue subway is different than high-speed rail. High-speed rail is different than building housing. You sort of go down the line. They're all different. Each unhappy policy is unhappy in its own way, to paraphrase Tolstoy.

One of the things I am trying to do in the book and in my reporting across these domains, because look, rural broadband is different than Second Avenue subway. Second Avenue subway is different than high-speed rail. High-speed rail is different than building housing. You sort of go down the line. They're all different. Each unhappy policy is unhappy in its own way, to paraphrase Tolstoy.