Brink Lindsey

Brink Lindsey, Senior VP at the Niskanen Center and author on political economy and social change, explores why mass affluence fails to bring meaning. He discusses how abundance reshapes work, status, and community ties. Topics include the shift from material scarcity to spiritual lack, cultural polarization, institutional distrust, and rebuilding social life through localism and policy changes.

Brink Lindsey, senior vice president at the Niskanen Center and writer of The Permanent Problem, dives into how mass affluence is reshaping expectations and creating a crisis within liberal democracies. He discusses the paradox of success leading to skepticism and diminishing trust in democratic institutions. The conversation addresses societal changes, the rise of populism, and a yearning for deeper fulfillment beyond material wealth. Lindsey also critiques the perceived tensions between economic performance and social cohesion, drawing on historical insights.

Brink Lindsey, formerly of the Cato Institute, talks about governmental capacity and making it better. They discuss the negative effects of policies that redistribute wealth, occupational licensing, and intellectual property debate. They also explore the challenges of consolidating pension funds in Illinois and the consequences of ideologies on governing capacity.

Brink Lindsey, senior fellow at the Niskanen Center and author of The Permanent Problem, explores how industrial-era abundance met rising pessimism. He discusses globalization’s winners and losers, slowing innovation and declining dynamism, the cultural fallout of capitalism, fractures between college-educated elites and others, falling fertility, and the social role of religion and community.

Brink Lindsey, Senior Vice President at the Niskanen Center and author of The Permanent Problem, discusses his transformation from a libertarian to what he calls a 'brokeness liberal.' He explores the legitimacy crisis in liberal democratic capitalism, the impact of rising AI, and how new societal challenges demand systemic change. Brink argues for well-designed social insurance to support market dynamism and the need for a deeper analysis of abundance beyond mere productivity. He highlights the importance of purpose in a thriving society, cautioning against consumerism.