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Thompson: Ralph Nader Popularized Suing Government and Business to Halt Projects

Derek Thompson · How To Build A Truly Abundant Future · Y Combinator · Apr 4, 2025 · at 8:45

Derek Thompson and Garry Tan discuss the historical origins of legal and bureaucratic paralysis stopping American infrastructure.

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“At the same time, you had Ralph Nader who created this revolution of adversarial legalism, where without simplifying it too much, he just made it cool. For liberals of a certain age to sue the government and sue businesses to stop things from happening.”

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