Brian Potter - How to Fix America's Building Problem
Apr 23, 2026•1 hr 13 min
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Episode description
Why has America become so bad at building housing, infrastructure, and major projects? Brian Potter, author of The Origins of Efficiency and writer of Construction Physics, explains why prefab housing keeps failing and why there are no easy fixes to America's building problem. We discuss Katerra, California's anti-growth turn, and the deeper logic behind local opposition to growth: concentrated harms and diffuse benefits. Important Links: Read Brian's newsletter Construction Physics here: https://www.construction-physics.com/ Read Brian's book The Origins of Efficiency here: https://press.stripe.com/origins-of-efficiency Learn more about Brian here: https://ifp.org/author/brian-potter
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