Why Is It So Expensive to Build Stuff in America?

Plain English with Derek Thompson

The Ringer

News Commentary, News

4.8 • 1.8K Ratings

🗓️ 12 September 2023

⏱️ 51 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

We're in the midst of a great affordability crisis. It's not just the inflation crisis. It's a greater cost crisis of the last few decades. Everything that matters most in life—health care, housing, education—is getting more and more expensive. Why? One way to investigate this question is to look at the cost and speed of building physical things in America. We build urban transit more slowly than we used to, we build highways more slowly than we used to, we build energy infrastructure more slowly than we used to, we build skyscrapers more slowly than we used to, and we build housing more slowly than we used to. Brian Potter, the author of the newsletter 'Construction Physics,' explains the forces behind the great slowdown, why it matters, and how to turn things around. If you have questions, observations, or ideas for future episodes, email us at [email protected]. Host: Derek Thompson Guest: Brian Potter Producer: Devon Manze Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Hey, it's Bill Simmons. Did you know I've had my podcast for 15 years?
0:03.4	Do you know that it is the most downloaded sports podcast of all time?
0:07.6	Did you know I have guests from the sports world, from the culture world?
0:11.8	People who work for the ringer, people outside the ringer, celebrities, experts,
0:16.6	you name it. It's on my podcast three times a week, late Sunday night,
0:21.0	late Tuesday night, late Thursday night, the Bill Simmons podcast, check it out on Spotify.
0:27.4	Today's episode is about a question I've been thinking about a lot of the last few months,
0:31.9	not only because it's a question very close to the heart of the book I'm working on,
0:36.2	but also because it's a question I've been thinking about and writing about for probably more than a decade.
0:41.2	And that question is, why is everything that matters most, getting so damn expensive?
0:49.1	Since the year 2000, the inflation-adjusted price of television sets
0:54.9	has declined by 90%.
0:57.2	TVs, flat screen TVs are way cheaper than they used to be, especially when you're looking at the exact same television,
1:03.3	because TVs get better year by year.
1:05.4	The price of electronics, like smartphones, has declined.
1:08.2	Toys are much cheaper, simple furniture, much cheaper.
1:12.0	But the price of healthcare has gone up faster than just about anything else.
1:17.6	Education has gotten more expensive, relative to wages.
1:20.9	The same is true for childcare.
1:22.4	The same is true for housing, especially in America's richest, most productive cities.
1:27.4	Now look, TV, toys, they're great.
1:30.6	I love TV. I love toys.
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from The Ringer, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of The Ringer and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.