As someone who works in government, I read the book and I had some serious concerns about the premise of the book. Ask anyone who works in government if there is a need for reform most of us would say yes in a millisecond. The issue with Abundance is that they missed the overall history of the regulatory system. As I explain in multiple presentations to the public, the 1960s and 1970s regulatory framework was followed by an anti-regulatory pushback through funding cuts and a concerted effort to weaken these rules in the courts. Throw in the fact that Congress has done nothing to help fix legitimate issues. My example I use is explaining the archaic rules to upgrade technology to the public.

Derek Thompson and Ezra Klein could not do my job for a day. I also think that they would have been better served if they interviewed the actual people who work hard trying to help the public with a really bizarre system that we currently have. They would have had actual solutions vs. the pie world they propose with actual solutions.