Earlier this week, the Cato Institute hosted a podcast building on my idea of a potential alliance between libertarians and “abundance liberals.” I took part along with Jeremiah Johnson of the Center for New Liberalism. My Cato colleague Ryan Bourne moderated. Beforehand, I thought I might agree with perhaps 70-80% of what Jeremiah would say. But it turned out to be more like 90-95%! I particularly agree with his points about how libertarians should prioritize issues (given that we are unlikely to achieve a fully libertarian state anytime soon, if ever).
I embed the audio below:
Cato also posted links to several pieces relevant to this discussion. I reprint them below:
- Ilya Somin, “Two Cheers for Abundance Liberalism,” The Volokh Conspiracy, April 23, 2026 [this is the post that started this discussion].
- Matt Yglesias, “What Libertarians Get Wrong About Freedom,” The Argument, May 20, 2026.
- Ilya Somin, “Matt Yglesias on Libertarianism, Abundance Liberalism, and a Possible Alliance Between the Two,” The Volokh Conspiracy, May 20, 2026.
- David Friedman, “Libertarians and Abundance Liberals,” David Friedman’s Substack, May 28, 2026.
- Ryan Bourne, “One and a Half Cheers for Supply-Side Progressivism,” The War on Prices, September 16, 2022.
