3 hours ago - Business
Axios C-Suite: Making sense of "abundance"
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Illustration: Brendan Lynch/Axios
The idea of "abundance" is everywhere, being discussed by some of the most powerful voices in politics and tech.
- It's easy to be confused: The Abundance Institute. Abundance Network. Inclusive Abundance. Metropolitan Abundance Project. Abundance is itself abundant these days.
Why it matters for CEOs: Two very different versions of abundance theory are being tossed around, advocating two very different outcomes. Be aware of both.
- On the left, abundance means that the government must enable and unlock development (housing, energy, etc.). This is the idea popularized by Ezra Klein and Derek Thompson in their best-selling book.
- On what I would call the techno-right, abundance means unleashing AI to create unimaginable growth and riches. This theory, older than the liberal one, originated with XPRIZE founder Peter Diamandis. He co-wrote "Abundance: The Future Is Better Than You Think" in 2012.
Worth a listen: Diamandis and his popular "Moonshots" podcast featured Elon Musk a few months ago for a conversation centered on abundance.
- Elon's take: "I think if you sort of lift your gaze, you know, to not a super distant point — five years from now, four years from now — maybe we'll have better medical care than anyone has today available for everyone within five years. No scarcity of goods or services."
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