Henry Grabar of
Slate praised the book for being "unabashed in synthesizing good ideas". He wrote that Klein and Thompson present an essential vision of "a 'liberalism that builds'," which could serve as a proactive solution to stagnation of liberal governance, particularly in
blue states; however, Grabar also observed that the authors provide remarkably little criticism of the
second Trump administration. In another positive review, Benjamin Wallace-Wells of
The New Yorker described Abundance as a "fair-minded book" that "recognizes some of the trade-offs that come with redesigning government for dynamism". Writing for
The New York Times,
Samuel Moyn gave a mixed review. He questioned the potential consequences of an abundance-driven agenda, wondering whether it could reinforce a culture of consumption as a primary goal. He also critiqued the authors' viewpoint as occasionally sounding "like the brief of a few elite finance and
tech bros in two or three coastal cities". Eric Levitz of
Vox also provided a mixed review. He noted a disconnect between the authors' proposals and the political climate at the time of the book's publication. In a negative review for
The Wall Street Journal, Barton Swaim criticized the authors for appearing dismissive of American conservatism. He also argued that Klein and Thompson's ideas seemed disconnected from the realities of everyday life and ordinary people. In
Washington Monthly,
Zephyr Teachout was critical of the authors' focus on rolling back zoning restrictions, specifically their support for reforming the
National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the
National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), as a means to increase housing supply, arguing that it was unlikely to have an impact. She said the authors were unclear regarding the specifics of such reforms, as well as centering their arguments primarily on only a few large American cities, while underestimating the negative effects of monopolization in the U.S. economy at large. She raised concerns that it could be used in the style of deregulation associated with
Ronald Reagan. In
The New Republic,
Julian E. Zelizer argued the book centered on two themes: policy and politics. On the policy side, Zelizer believed that Klein and Thompson presented a convincing case that removing ineffective governmental practices should be a priority to renew liberalism. However, Zelizer was not convinced on the political side, and questioned if there is a political constituency and suggested that
institutional reform is only part of the solution. =="Abundance movement"==