WASHINGTON, DC – From Elon Musk to proponents of the so-called abundance agenda, influential voices in the United States portray the state as an impediment to prosperity. Musk asserts that the state traps workers in low-productivity jobs, while the abundance agenda’s promoters attack environmental review and zoning rules as bureaucratic obstacles to private investment. The common theme is a state that prevents the emergence of an American golden age defined by plentiful clean energy and affordable housing.