I just couldn't keep reading with the constant "antitrust left" being refered to on every sentence.
The issue, is that for me, the reader, it framed the piece as the author seemingly positioning themselves as the "the other side", the one that knows best and isn't those "antitrust left". It felt like it was creating a strawman and was engaging in tribal signaling.
And when you consider the rest of the piece was them claiming they called the sources, and that the sources said that the "antitrust left" had misquoted them and misrepresented their findings, but the author somehow is this unbiased truth, and definitely really for real called the the sources and didn't at all misconstrue or anything, no they wouldn't do that, unlike the "antitrust left".
I'm about as far left as you can be, as a syndicalist anarchist, and I definitely perceived a bit of what you described. But I'm not super worried about it because he didn't say "the left", but rather a specific lefty position.
But also, the left isn't uniform on housing policy. Some folks want anti trust and limited capital ownership. Some folks want to de commodify housing. Some folks want all housing to be government built and owned. The left is a very diverse place (and the joke is no one hates leftists more than other leftists).
The people the article quoted as "left" like Stoller are really not left, and the whole anti-left felt more like a unnecessary strawman label and definite turn off for me reading it. I would characterize Stoller as an independent anti-monopolist - not really on the right or left spectrum at all politically. Unless the right is now pro-monopoly.
He’s specifically talking about Zephyr Teachout. Her work is specifically in anti-monopoly stuff.
I'm confused, that name does not seem to occur in the article. Are you talking about some other context
Zephyr Teachout wrote an early article critiquing Abundance, the book by Derek Thompson and Ezra Klein. She appeared on Ezra's podcast and (IMHO) did not appear to have thought very deeply about the problem of housing affordability; instead defaulting to "monopoly in housing construction" as the problem. Stoller and Musharbash are re-iterating the position that had been staked out by Zephyr Teachout in March.
> Let’s assume that reforming rules on setbacks, parking, single-family zoning, and local input would achieve what they desire (the evidence is not straightforward; cities that have these reforms have lower costs, but they are rising at the same rate as in other cities). It would still seem relatively small-bore as a novel solution: Half of the 10 biggest cities in America—many in Texas—already have a zoning and procedural regime fairly close to what Klein and Thompson want. Are they simply arguing that Dems embracing Texas zoning approaches would transform national politics? That can’t be it.
https://washingtonmonthly.com/2025/03/23/an-abundance-of-amb...
Much of the criticism of Abundance from prominent pundits on The Left (including Teachout and Nathan Robinson) has been along the lines of "the actual problem is corporate monopoly" rather than zoning. (Or maybe: "zoning is an easy problem to fix and a distraction from the real problem of corporate monopoly".)
Yes, Teachout is one of the most prominent anti-monopoly advocates (along with Tim Wu). She wrote one of the first critical reviews of Abundance. She was then invited onto Klein's show to discuss the topic candidly with critics. Her positions are not "her's" but of a large section of the left who wants to blame the housing crisis on corporations rather than on cartel-like supply effects pushed by homeowner groups.
Her review: https://washingtonmonthly.com/2025/03/23/an-abundance-of-amb...
Discussion with Teachout: https://youtu.be/Ib1wzwbL7Is
Then why even bother calling it "left" at this point? Just say they're anti-monopoly. Is there really nobody on the right who are also anti-monopoly?
Presumably because anti monopoly right is much less common? Or because the anti monopoly right is concerned with different aspects of monopoly?
If someone said they were anti monopoly, that the government should do something to prevent businesses from operating like that, I'd never expect them to be from the right to be honest.
> If someone said they were anti monopoly, that the government should do something to prevent businesses from operating like that, I'd never expect them to be from the right to be honest.
So consider several perspectives:
a. The government should be in charge of, or at least heavily involved in, planning and organizing most resources in a country.
b. The market is a good way of solving most problems, and it works best if you just leave it alone, enforcing only very minimal rules (like property ownership, contracts, and such).
c. The market can be a good way of solving many problems, if it's regulated so that it has the properties you want.
Now consider other questions: Should abortion or pornography be legal / easily available? Should we invest in a large military? Should the government actively support "diversity" programs? Should gay marriage be allowed? How should the government relate to transgender people?
There are LOTS of people who believe in c as a principle, but have very non-"lefty" opinions on the other questions. Loads of people who consider themselves "on the right" think that everyone "on the left" actually believes a, not c; and loads of people who consider themselves "on the left" think that everyone "on the right" actually believes b, not c.
My sense is actually that the reason he talks that way is to make sure that people who consider themselves "on the left" don't mistake him for being someone "on the right" (and therefore in camp b), and immediately dismiss his claims.
>My sense is actually that the reason he talks that way is to make sure that people who consider themselves "on the left" don't mistake him for being someone "on the right"
If so he has sorely missed the mark. I pretty heavily associate the phrasing "the $X left" with disengenuous right wing pundits. Knowing nothing else about the author, seeing that pop up repeatedly doesn't merely suggest that he's on the "right", but that he's writing the piece with a politically motivated axe to grind.
> My sense is actually that the reason he talks that way is to make sure that people who consider themselves "on the left" don't mistake him for being someone "on the right" (and therefore in camp b), and immediately dismiss his claims.
This is a tad naive I think. "antitrust left" is also to useful term to use to signal to the billionaire class of Democratic party that you are not their enemy. If the author actually agreed with many of the antitrust group's positions and housing policy was one of the few exceptions they disagreed on, they would shy away from using the term. The only reason you would use that term is because you want to bring disrepute to their entire platform.
These abundance folks appear to be the only hope the billionaire Democrats have after having sunk so low as to direct their media assets to support Cuomo and to pour bucketloads money into the coffers of the corrupt disgraced governor in order prevent those "wacky socialists" to gain any more traction.
Since the authors are arguing for removing a lot of current housing regulation, I have a hard time seeing how "the billionaire class of the Democratic Party" would consider them their enemy -- unless, of course they're mistaken for people in class b.
>Since the authors are arguing for removing a lot of current housing regulation
Human beings like to know if the person they're reading is on their side before they take the time to read a long ass article to make sure they are in fact on their side, especially if they're billionaires and think they don't have the time to read long ass articles about housing policy unless they think it's going to an extremely useful to them beforehand. That's the whole point of giving that signal literally in the intro paragraph.
Tbh classification that makes most sense is wealth level.
Ultra rich and very rich and rich and upper middle class and ..
Because the underlying beliefs of a 'left' anti-monopolist and a 'right' anti-monopolist are likely very different, and similarly their proposed solutions and view of an ideal society will also diverge significantly?
---
Also, it should be noted that we lack sufficiently concise but specific terms to use instead, and because alternative terms that are used are relative, and open to interpretation.
e.g.:
Many political commentators currently use the term "populist" to describe someone who's somewhat divergent from the capitalist political mainstream (and in US terms, I'd include the current Democrat establishment and traditional non-MAGA Republicans in this group). But when the term is applied to people as diverse as Corbyn, Sanders, and AOC on the one side, and Orban, Farage, and Trump on the other, it's nonsensical without much more explanation.
> Because the underlying beliefs of a 'left' anti-monopolist and a 'right' anti-monopolist are likely very different, and similarly their proposed solutions...?
Just curious, how "left" and "right" anti-monopolist solutions might be different? I mean, naturally some "left anti-monopolist" people might be in favor of governments taking over industries, but presumably that's not what most of the people in question are advocating at the moment.
> But when the term [populist] is applied to people as diverse as Corbyn, Sanders, and AOC on the one side, and Orban, Farage, and Trump on the other, it's nonsensical without much more explanation.
I don't think so. It's essentially an accusation that they haven't thought through the hard issues: they're saying "We're going to achieve X", when in fact X is simply not possible given the current state of play (or perhaps, not possible without significant negative consequences, like erosion of human rights or setting up an economic or ecological disaster further down the road).
Boris Johnson's promise to conservatives that they'd be able to "make a deal" which allowed them to trade freely with Europe while not accepting immigrants from Europe was just a fantasy. A lot of populist "progressive" politicians make similar kinds of promises.
> I don't think so. It's essentially an accusation that they haven't thought through the hard issues...
...which itself is nosensical as a generic label, without considering policies individually.
Virtually all politicians say things to help them get elected which are somewhere on a spectrum from 'a vision for the future that is unlikely to be delivered' to 'outright lie'. Of course, on the one hand, we want leaders with a positive vision for the future, which means speaking about possibilities which aren't yet realised, but when even leaders as sensible/stodgy as Starmer/Reeves are doing it ("it's all about growth"... then deliver virtually no policies to meaningfully drive growth) you can see where the growing mistrust of politicians comes from.
I'd characterise "populist" more as "willing to challenge the status quo" - where the status quo in this case is boring centerist politics that rarely/never delivers exciting or meaningful change, is more or less (depending on the country) in the pocket of big business and donors, and which has overseen a progressive worsening of financial inequality and funadamental justice over decades. Which is why the establishment are threatened and use "populist" as an insult, while "populists" are growing their support, be they on the left or right - because people are crying out for something different, even if it comes with potential downsides.
>Just curious, how "left" and "right" anti-monopolist solutions might be different?
Regulating monopolies out of existence vs deregulating them out of existence.
Both approaches have obvious situations they fail in that their peddlers are careful to frame the discussion to avoid.
Right anti-monopolistic policy: tariffs
Left anti-monopolistic policy: destroy Musk via the press/court system.
It can just be an empirical question, right?
It's a shame to let two words color your opinion on an entire piece like that; I found it to be really compelling.
Your last paragraph is a bit confusing; is it your position that Derek's lying? Which quote did you think was inaccurate? Or are you specifically concerned with his rhetoric?
Yes, that's why I commented, as a kind of feedback, the piece could be so much better with a very small tweak. Replace "antitrust-left" with the name of the exact handful of people whose book/article/stance you are refuting.
Two words that were repeated at least a half dozen times and used as the framing for the article. I literally went and looked at past articles to see how much this framing was used (and it wasn't) because when you use this framing you are literally appealing to tribalism and usually that comes with a LOT of other baggage.
Yeah this article treats it like an either/or situation where monopoly's somehow make it so regulations aren't the issue instead of what most of the monopoly takes say which is that monopoly builders make the situation worse and combine with the other problems.
I watched an interview with both the authors. They read as both left leaning but self critical of the regulations the left has put in place. It seemed like this leftist identity is part of the story so maybe that is why it is mentioned so much.
https://youtu.be/D9wga7S3nAw?si=mZT3yhUG_z2DKref
I sense the labelling is a tell of sorts. As to the critique, I think the focus on homebuilder corporate profits leaves out important parts of the ecosystem. As example: Observing the only profitablity of Toys R Us as it collapsed would mislead you as to the very profitable exploit that KKR and Bain executed.
Its a great article though, lots of facts to ponder. Would love a view of the next layer up into financial arrangements in those Texas housing markets.
There is a specific group of people, matt stoller being the primary leader in the media, who are the "anti trust left". There is another specific group of people who are "abundance liberals" (dereck thompson and ezra klein being main media leaders) and there is an active competition inside the democratic/left of center politico-academic-policy-legal-media blob over prioritization of laypeoples attention and allegiance/belief which is in fact a finite resource and relatively zero sum between the two camps.
I mean, the article is responding specifically to a particular ideology... the antitrust left, so it makes sense.
The abundance vs anti abundance schism is internal on the left wing side of politics.
The author of this article was also one of the authors of the titular Abundance book which named the movement, so he’s not positioning himself as the other side of the “anti trust left”, he quite literally is the other side that that group is fighting with
It all makes sense when you take "abundance liberalism" for what it actually is: a rebranding of neoliberalism in support of establishment democrats. Its main goal is not to provide the democratic party with a new direction, but to defend the status quo against the populist left, incarnated by the likes of AOC and Mamdani.
It makes sense then, that they'd spend more time attacking the left than the right, as they realize where the existential threat to the current democratic party lies. Personally, I think it's good that they're afraid.
The Abundance movement is decidedly not pushing for the status quo. They are pushing for removing a good number of regulations on home building and zoning.
That is an active change
You misread my comment, I meant the status quo of the current democratic party leadership.
Whatever deregulation "abundance liberalism" pushes for, it will immediately be killed off or undone by the people that benefitted from those regulations. The democratic party is plagued by private interests (almost as much as the republicans), who very much do not want to see homes getting cheaper.
The establishment, through its neoliberalist direction, has shown that it has either no interest or is completely powerless to curb the growing inequalities and societal issues stemming from them. Only a fool would fall for it again, because it is rebranded from "neoliberalism" to "abundance liberalism". "Deregulation" has been the chief word in politics for 50 years, what makes you think it will lead to somthing any different this time?
Why do I see so many critiques of the abundance movement based on factional motives and ad hominem, and so little critique of the arguments they make?
If progressives want to expand government, government needs to be effective. Abundance liberalism is about learning from the mistakes of the past and making government better able to achieve to goals both liberals and progressives want.
If we're talking about factional infighting, leftists are "afraid" the neoliberals will offer a compelling path forward instead of pivoting to socialism, so they resist arguments that would otherwise be beneficial to their political goals.
Do you think this specific criticism of the “populist left” by the “abundance liberals” is valid though?
No, this guy (the writer of the article) has no idea what he’s talking about. I say this as someone isn’t even on the left.
He sets a false dichotomy to protect himself from criticism. Zoning/building codes being too strict and monopolies existing in that market aren’t incompatible.
It’s worth noting that there’s a lot of money behind this abundance movement or whatever, so that’s something to take into account when reading this stuff.
Truthfully, I don't. IMHO, abundance liberalism has a blind spot when it comes to the power of money in modern politics. We didn't stumble into a situation where buying a house requires an entire lifetime of work out of sheer bad luck. Some private interests greatly benefit from this situation and have enough power to keep things from changing.
Until we address this, and the abundance crowd doesn't want to, all of this is pointless bickering.
Have you read the book? A large portion of it is dedicated to how we got here.
Nimbyism and people’s desire to keep their property value high is part of it. The levers that have been used to make those values high include a ton of regulation that makes it impossible to build start ups homes even if you were a perfectly moral actor seeking to generate exactly 0 profit.
> until we address all of this
Address what? I was convinced by Ezra and Derek because they constantly show real evidence as the opposing side keeps bringing vibes.
What are your actual, concrete issues that you think the abundance crowd is not addressing and what are your specific policy positions that you think need to be implemented first?
> people’s desire to keep their property value high is part of it.
Yes, exactly, and what are Klein and Thompson proposing to fix this? Fuck all. They only write about curing the symptoms of this crisis while telling us to ignore the root cause of it all: housing is now a very popular investment vehicle, used by many powerful private interests who absolutely wouldn't want to see their portfolios halve in values.
How are we to believe that the Democratic establishment, lead by the same old people, backed by the same old wealthy donors, will now be able to make a stand against the very people that put us in this situation in the first place, and are now funding the politicians and "thinkers" behind this movement?
Abundance liberalism is nothing but a rebranding of neoliberalism in a desperate attempt to astroturf a renewed interest in the failing democratic party. It is running away from any reform that would be critical to capital, hence why they dispense so much vitriol on the progressives and almost none on the right.
tldr: abundance does not address money in politics because it is birthed from it, and will therefore never be able to fix the housing crisis because its existence is convenient to capital.
What they proposed is that we reduce regulations strangling the building of housing. The sheer quantity of regulation being the problem. We can have some for things we really care about, but we need to value actually building housing at something other than at the bottom of the priority list.
If you want a real world example of policies under this agenda that have now been put into place, look at the California budget passed under Newsom a month ago under the section literally titled “Advancing an Abundance Agenda”
https://www.gov.ca.gov/2025/06/30/governor-newsom-signs-into...
> It is running away from any reform that would be critical to capital, hence why they dispense so much vitriol on the progressives and almost none on the right.
It has vitriol to the type of progressive who crows about if you scratch a liberal a fascist bleeds. The default for the right is that they are bad, the type of discussions like the one in the article this thread is about are internal left infighting, not intended for the general public.
Also I will quibble on you that it’s not a reform to capital. Saying everyone gets rich from the benefits of capitalism, by structural design, is a reform from our current “git gud” increasingly laissez faire approach.
If you’re one of those folks whose arguing for abolishing capitalism entirely, I agree with your end goal but I think we’re a century or two of progress at reducing scarcity away from implementing that level of reform