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California without nimbyism is unironically the space utopia meme.

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Mar 9, 2022Liked by Josh Barro

Good post today

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The US can increase the durability of it's economic power by allowing more people to immigrate here. Now that we've proven the value of this geopolitical asset, let's invest in it.

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Thanks - both interesting topics. In re: to this - "It is possible that our sanctions and our freezing of Russia’s cash reserves overseas will reduce other countries’ comfort in relying on the dollar-based international financial order." Who knows how this will all turn out, but it does feel like this is a prime opportunity for unintended consequences.

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Saying "trusting China is a worse option than trusting us" is an argument I'm not sure will hold in the long run, even though it's true. I think a better argument is to point out that we use these financial sanctions wisely, against bad actors who break widely accepted international rules. These sanctions aren't just a tool of American interests but of global power in favor of stability and the rules-based order. We (and importantly, nearly 100% of our allies and friendly countries) are not acting in an arbitrary manner to punish Russia for selfish or narrow American interests. I hope that's the message here instead of "hey you're stuck with us because the other guys are worse."

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