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25 sats \ 21 replies \ @Aardvark OP 20 Feb \ parent \ on: What is the economic impact of high levels of immigration? AskSN
I agree, but I was asked this question and didn't have an answer, I figured i would get an objective answer on SN.
There are plenty of economic arguments for a free market in labor (which would include free entry for foreign workers). Similarly, there are plenty of arguments for free markets in consumer good (which would include free entry for shoppers).
The difficulty is in balancing those known benefits against the also known costs of attracting people to government subsidized services who don't pay proportionately for their upkeep.
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If you were being extra charitable, could you make a case for why it was a net positive? Personally I can't, but I'm trying to be thorough.
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Sure, but why should I do it, when the much smarter Bryan Caplan has already put so much effort into it.
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Because I like you, and I don't even know him!
I'll give it a listen, thanks. 😁
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I linked to this comic book by the SMBC guy and Caplan once, arguing for open borders. Got a lot of backlash at the time so didn't feel like engaging further.
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Yeah, a lot of people are very hostile to the idea.
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The sad part is that people are very closed minded. I was very much against it too, until I was presented evidence. Most people can't pivot from something once they've decided.
I'd also argue that economists don't pay enough attention to culture. What happens when the workers that are coming in, even if they pay taxes and are a net positive to the economy, have cultural and ethical beliefs that are at odds with the existing culture?
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I'm about 40 minutes into the video that @Undisciplined linked and he's literally doing exactly what you said. "The cultural impact is insignificant if you can't offset the 90 trillion dollars of gains."
Unfortunately, you still have to convince people who value their culture to vote for your policy.
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I didn't watch the whole video.... where did he get $90 trillion in gains from?
AFAIK, the entire world economy is less than $90 trillion USD in real terms...
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He says wide open borders will dramatically increase the world's productivity.
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That does make it a different point than what you were asking for. A net benefit isn't the same as a mutual benefit.
The way this generally plays out is that each culture adapts to some degree to the other and then enclaves of the remaining minority culture persist.
My perspective is that we generate problems by trying to either force integration of the cultures or attempt to force a change onto the majority culture. Otherwise, people can generally coexist and stay out of each other's hair.
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Example: like most people I have never gone out of my way to harass someone of a different culture because they are different.
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