One Billion Americans summary

Imagine you’re in a small American town and it’s time for dinner. The menu in the town’s only restaurant spans a vast array of cuisines. When your meal arrives, it’s mediocre. Your reasonable assumption is that the locals don’t appreciate a good meal.

But you’d be wrong. In a town with a limited population, businesses like restaurants have to be as broadly appealing as possible, rather than specializing in one area in which they could really shine. But if that same town were to triple in size, it might become big enough to support three restaurants. And having more potential customers means there’s room for specialization. Those competing eateries would need to distinguish themselves from each other by each offering something unique, and raising their quality.

The US birth rate is at an all-time low. Women now have an average of just 1.72 children. Of course, it’s completely legitimate to have only one or two children, and just as legitimate to have no children at all. With more work opportunities than in previous generations, many women decide to pursue a career rather than create a large family.

But a disturbing fact emerges if you look at data about how many children parents want. The most recent General Social Survey shows that women would, on average, like 2.6 children. And men want at least two as well. But parents are shying away from having their ideal number of babies. They simply don’t have enough money to care for a second or third child.

In the US, a shocking 21 percent of children live in poverty. This is more than double the rate in Sweden. And since the United States is the world’s top economy, wealth isn’t the reason for this travesty. It’s government policy.

In Europe, parents receive money from the government to help raise children. This doesn’t happen in the US. The child tax credit does provide parents with around $2,000 per child each year, but this isn’t enough. And worse, very poor families often don’t receive it because they aren’t working enough. But denying poor families cash benefits doesn’t motivate them to get jobs. All it does is lead to unnecessary suffering in the world’s richest country.

In 1783, George Washington told newly arrived Irishmen that they were welcome in America regardless of their wealth, religion, or even respectability. But this was no act of charity. Washington had a vision. He wanted the United States to become a great nation. To achieve that, he needed people. And Washington understood that the most efficient way to get them was from overseas.

While increasing family size is one way to boost population, it means that the workforce won’t grow significantly for at least 20 years. But when immigrants arrive in a country, they’re capable of working straight away. In fact, without the many people who’ve moved to the United States over the years, US wealth would have already fallen behind Chinese wealth.

Across the United States, cities and rural areas alike are turning into ghost towns. Around 24 percent of them have lost residents to big cities with better services and job opportunities. When people move in large numbers, neighborhoods deteriorate. An empty city can’t support museums, churches, or hospitals.

As a result, the people left behind suffer. A lack of demand means land values drop. This discourages landlords from maintaining buildings, and structures fall into disrepair. With a reduced customer base, amenities become scarce, making the area even more undesirable. This fate has befallen many significant cities, like Detroit, Cleveland, and St. Louis. These cities have plenty of residential capacity. But they need more people to create thriving communities. 

Before COVID-19 hit the US, many cities like Seattle were experiencing an economic boom. Unemployment was falling – but something disturbing was happening at the same time: homelessness was rising dramatically. And this wasn’t happening just in Seattle. Long before the wave of unemployment caused by the global pandemic, hundreds of thousands of people were unhoused every night.

In the US, housing security deteriorates when the broader economy grows. This is because the cost of housing in wealthy cities increases to the point where some people can’t afford a home. Now, the United States has the technology and resources to solve this issue – but the easiest means of providing affordable housing is, for the most part, prohibited by law. 

There’s nothing positive about traffic jams. They eat up time, frustrate commuters, and cause pollution. Even though automotive technology has advanced significantly since the 1960s, travel time has actually lengthened. In 1982, the average motorist spent 20 hours a year sitting in traffic. By 2017, this figure had nearly tripled, to 54 hours.

Traffic congestion is often used as an argument against increasing population. If people already struggle to get to work, how will the transport system support an even higher volume of commuters? But shouldn’t the nation that sent an astronaut to the moon be able to tackle this problem? There are already some great systems running in other countries that the US could easily adopt.