Notes on Immigration

An Argument Against Open Borders and Liberal Hubris – Quillette

Let’s assume Bryan Caplan is right about how low-IQ immigration is always a net-positive for the economy, such as in terms consumer spending and comparative advantage. But the educated elite are largely insulated from the consequences of the policy they espouse. The jobs of tenured economics professors are among the least least threatened by low-IQ immigration. There is a probably an optimal balance between high-IQ and low-IQ people in a society, but open-border immigration threatens this equilibrium, as is already the case in America and much Europe. As discussed a few days ago, immigration is a smaller problem than second and third generation immigration, which grows exponentially. That is why admitting only high-IQ immigrants is insufficient, due to reversion to the mean and birthright citizenship. Look at at Saudi Arabia and the UAE…although they have a lot of foreign workers, they don’t have an immigration problem, because foreigners are not fully integrated into society and don’t have the same rights as citizens, and there is no birthright citizenship.